Soul has no color...

Adele is such a gem...it is fascinating the number of brilliant female singers that are coming out of the UK lately. I'm sure that they have always been there, but it is nice to see some of them finally getting more attention in the states. I am thoroughly impressed and becoming more and more intrigued with each new song I hear. Who would have thought that some British white girls would come busting out of the woodwork to help save soul music and fill the void created by the ever too prevalent "autotune" fad. It is enough to easily justify an entire month of posts, but for now, let's check out a couple stand-outs.

Here's the one and only Adele doing her thing:



Alice Russell is another of England's well kept "blue-eyed soul" secrets...been around for a minute.



Here she is at a live show in Paris...flawless voice, and quite the personality as well!

I was reading reviews and searching around for music, when I stumbled upon a great little post/discussion about Alice Russell that spawned from one person's awakening to her own prejudices and preconceived notions about how soul should "look". Mtume ya Salaam starts off revealing her shock in discovering Alice's race: "At first, I’m embarrassed to say, I started hearing Alice’s records a little differently. I’d hear a little something in this note or that one which ‘betrayed’ her whiteness. I’d imagine that some lyric or the other ‘revealed’ that she was actually from Suffolk, England as opposed to Detroit, Michigan or Memphis, Tennessee. Basically (although I didn’t see it then) I was exposing my own prejudices. In retrospect, it was a fairly sad and pitiful experience." It continues on, if you are interested in reading it, you can find it here. I thought it was very insightful and honest.

Anyway, enjoy...here are these ladies' respective websites, go and get all of their music!

www.alicerussell.com
www.adele.tv