Album Review: Durand Jones & THe Indications Are Making An “American Love Call”

If someone told me that Durand Jones & The Indications new album, American Love Call, was produced by the likes of Marvin Gaye, I would say, “DUH!” Personally, I adore when people can make the best of the past feel fresh again, and nostalgia breeds the music of the record. 

You WILL hear, at least once, someone say, “Remember when music was great and filled with soul!” Well, this band shows the past is still present. Led by Durand Jones, American Love Call feels like The Temptations singing “Mississippi Blues.” The album gravitates to both sides of Motown: its romantic nature and political commentary. MAKE NO MISTAKE! Sam Cooke & The Soul Stirrers sang about winning ladies’ hearts and civil/human rights of which this group does the same. 

As you hear tracks like, “Too Many Tears,” “Sea Get Hotter,” and “True Love,” Jones’ voice, interchanging with fellow vocalist Frazer, sings to falling in love, laughing with friends, and dancing the night away while being terrified that the world is ending itself.  Frankly, it is  beautifully strange how resilient humanity is; to the point that it could be a fault. Most of us really know how to handle loss, but Durand Jones wants to start fighting for gain. Sure, no policy can take away humanity’s capacity to smile, even if it makes you feel like not doing so. Yet, we need to wake up to the fact that there are those trying to make laws and hateful acts that take our capacity to live full, equal, and loving lives, which Motown does combat. 

Every song in American Love Call feels like it belongs in a Greatest Hits record of the 60’s. From horns to strings and DRUMROLLS, PLEASE! you want to swing and shake like  “jiving” was still a cool way to say you were dancing to the vibe. From Jones’ Pendergrass vocality to a soundscape that feels etched in the summer heat of Soul, itself, the ultimate message for American Love Call is that you can love and fight for love, all at once. You, actually, need one to do the other. To Buy Durand Jones Ant The Indication American Love Call On March 1 Click Here.