On their fourth album, the husband-wife singing duo known as Kindred the Family Soul reestablishes a fact that the late, great Marvin Gaye was among the first to prove with his groundbreaking 1971 album What's Going On -- it's possible to make an R&B/Soul album that can entertain you while tackling social issues like violence and poverty at the same time. Love Has No Recession, released in the U.S. on July 25, 2011, isn't quite the masterpiece that What's Going On was, but it's still a strong, well-rounded album that has plenty of highs and very few lows.
Ambitious and Consistent
Kindred the Family Soul's Love Has No Recession is easily the duo's most ambitious and consistent album to date. And what pulls everything together is an overarching theme: even through hard times and difficulties in life, love not only remains, but love conquers all. The message is timely considering that at the time of the album's release, the U.S. is in the midst of a lingering recession that's resulted in hundreds of thousands people losing their jobs, while at the same time, gas and food prices rise. So if you're an adult with responsibilities -- a car note, house, rent, children, etc. -- then it's likely you'll be able to relate to at least some of what Aja and Fatin of Kindred sing about.
The album kicks off with a funky, soulful instrumental called "The Sheddington," which serves as a sort of notification that the album is unlike the vast majority of music you'll hear this year. The song, produced by Dre & Vidal, with co-production by Kindred, is the kind of jam that you'd hear back in the '70s, but is practically extinct now. But it's the following track, "Above Water Part 1," which is part of a trilogy of interludes spread out across the album, that really sets things off. Lyrics like "can't seem to keep my head above water, just can't seem to put this chaos back in order," establish the album's theme, with the track's segments fortified by different spoken-word poets, Ursula Rucker, CoCo Brown and Rich Medina, on each of the three pieces.
The album kicks off with a funky, soulful instrumental called "The Sheddington," which serves as a sort of notification that the album is unlike the vast majority of music you'll hear this year. The song, produced by Dre & Vidal, with co-production by Kindred, is the kind of jam that you'd hear back in the '70s, but is practically extinct now. But it's the following track, "Above Water Part 1," which is part of a trilogy of interludes spread out across the album, that really sets things off. Lyrics like "can't seem to keep my head above water, just can't seem to put this chaos back in order," establish the album's theme, with the track's segments fortified by different spoken-word poets, Ursula Rucker, CoCo Brown and Rich Medina, on each of the three pieces.
High Quality
© Shanachie Entertainment.
The track from the album that's gotten the most attention is the sexually charged "You Got Love," mainly due to the contribution of the rapper Snoop Dogg on the track. And the attention's well deserved; "You Got Love" is maybe the best all-around song on this strong album. What's probably most impressive about it is how Snoop managed to restrain himself and tailor his vocals to suit the singing and tone of the song instead of overpowering it with his personality. Another song deserving praise is the second single, the very romantic "Magic Happen," a duet between Aja and Fatin about true love: "I ain't gotta tell you, you should already know, just in case you needed to hear it, well here it go, I love you more than you could ever imagine, you make magic happen, you make magic happen." There's a couple of other high-quality love ballads here that deserve mention too: the apology demanding song "2 Words" and the very sensual "Sticking With You."
This is the rare album that doesn't have any true bad songs, but of course, some songs don't work as well as others. Oddly enough, one of those songs is the title track, which suffers from a lack of vocal cohesion and a ill-fitting cameo by French harmonica player Frederic Yonnet. The only outright bad tune, however, is a hip-hop remix of "You Got Love" tacked onto the album's end. Again, the down moments are few and far between on Love Has No Recession; this is easily one of the best R&B/Soul releases of 2011.
This is the rare album that doesn't have any true bad songs, but of course, some songs don't work as well as others. Oddly enough, one of those songs is the title track, which suffers from a lack of vocal cohesion and a ill-fitting cameo by French harmonica player Frederic Yonnet. The only outright bad tune, however, is a hip-hop remix of "You Got Love" tacked onto the album's end. Again, the down moments are few and far between on Love Has No Recession; this is easily one of the best R&B/Soul releases of 2011.
Disclosure: A review copy was provided by the record label. For more information, please see our Ethics Policy.