The Womack Sisters

まさにソウル界のロイヤル・ファミリー、ウーマック家の3姉妹(BG、ゼイマニ、クチャ)によるヴォーカル・グループ、ウーマック・シスターズのダプトーン・レコードからのデビュー・アルバム!BGのソウルフルな力強いリードボーカルにゼイマニとクチャの哀愁漂うバックボーカルが見事に調和。ダプトーンの象徴的なサウンドを築き上げてきたグラミー受賞プロデューサーで、ザ・ダップ・キングスのリーダー兼ベーシストのガブリエル・ロス(ボスコ・マン)がプロデュースを務め、ヴィンテージなソウルサウンドを聴かせる。

Writing together, trading leads, and backing each other with an ease that only a shared bloodline can engender, BG, Zeimani, and Kucha are the daughters of Linda and Cecil Womack, aka Womack & Womack, and therefore the granddaughters of Sam Cooke and the nieces of Bobby Womack. The siblings growth can be seen and heard a bit through Womack & Womack records dating back to 1988s Conscience. The trio performed extensively with their restlessly itinerant parents from a young age -- they were also showcased on a 2001 album as Ejyptsian Queen -- and later toured as their uncles backing singers. Outside the family, theyve been sought by B.o.B., Mya, and Solange. Not until their fathers death did they take the name the Womack Sisters, and though that name weighs a ton, they self-financed and self-released their 2016 debut single, and continued a bumpy and protracted climb as they put together a 2022 EP entitled Legacy. More fortuitous was crossing paths with throwback soul specialist Gabriel Roth, aka Bosco Mann, producer, musician, and co-founder of Daptone Records. The Womacks grew up absorbing classic R&B and had already seemed most comfortable in that mode, making Daptone a natural fit. The result here is a knowing and distinct refresh of mid- to late-60s pop-soul. It begins and ends with its most personal songs, leading with "Chauffeur," a perseverant belter inspired by the sisters experience as rideshare drivers, and finishing with "My Sisters and Me," a comforting ballad with a hint of their grandfathers "What a Wonderful World." Most of whats between those two highlights puts subtly clever twists on heartache-ridden traditional R&B. Impeccable vocal arrangements with hooks galore are dealt in other standouts like "If You Want Me," "I Just Dont Want You (To Say Goodbye)," and "You Went Away Too Long," the theatrical last of which seems to put the whole of Roths music shop to use. While the celebrated men in the Womacks family are no doubt a factor, the sisters work is just as much an extension of their unsung mother. One can hear the woman behind soul classics such as "Womans Gotta Have It," "Baby Im Scared of You," and "Teardrops" in all three of her daughters here. ~ Andy Kellman