British singer Rory Graham (aka Rag‘n’Bone Man) brings a stark 1930s proto-blues holler to a post Adele English soul sheen on his debut album, Human.
He continues the grand tradition of British soul singers from Dusty Springfield and Tom Jones on to Amy Winehouse, who put a layer of drama in their R&B. They create an atmosphere that invokes the allure of early James Bond film soundtracks.
Graham has the vocal presence of a star but more importantly than that, he has deep soul. The Depression-era blues reference to Die Easy, an a cappella piece that opens Human, has Graham singing the track à la Son House’s Grinnin’ In Your Face, a scary performance that’s also insightful, real blues.
As Rag‘n’Bone Man, Graham has all the bases covered concerning musical matters of the soul. His voice and arranging skills are born to expressive bluesiness, but he likes the pop/soul/folk hybrid so beloved of British soulsters (Life in Her Yet, Healed, Innocent Man).
Graham has his direction firmly in his sights and his sound reflects that. There’s no artifice in the way of his style. The music is deep and groovy enough to hold up his Valhalla-toned voice. He gets attention from the first song and it’s not an ego driven display. It has character and personality.
The title cut is a fine summing up of Graham’s Rag‘n’Bone Man sound – soul croon power over bare bones arrangements that don’t suffer flash and wank. He keeps the sonic space clean. It’s the singer, not the song.
– Dean Gordon-Smith is a Vernon-based musician who writes about the latest music releases for The Morning Star