Review: Ruby Turner's 'Love Was Here' - The House That Soul Built

While Ruby Turner is still best experienced live, Love Was Here is arguably her strongest solo release to date

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As dynamic and exciting as contemporary soul music can be, often the appetite is best sated with the classic sounds of the 1960s and ’70s – an unrivalled period of rich, consistent output which saw Aretha, Stevie, Mavis, Curtis, Al Green and the like flourish.

‘In my life [this is] the music that’s moved my soul and made me want to sing as well as I possibly can,’ says singer Ruby Turner in her recent interview with The House That Soul Built. The Jamaican-born artist describes herself as a ‘rarity‘ in her championing of raw, old-school soul. A fair comment – although with new groups like Durand Jones & the Indications and Bastards of Soul popping up, this brand of soul is, fortunately, at no risk of extinction.

But Turner does take things back to basics, particularly on Love Was Here. A collaborative effort with co-writers Nick Atkinson and Kat Eaton, Turner worked on the album (her 20th!) for two years, singing melodies down the phone and sharing lyrics via email. Turner would make trips down to London from her base in the Midlands to lay down the vocals. While less melismatic than, say, soulful contemporaries Mica Paris or Beverley Knight, Turner brings a characteristic gospel sensibility to her singing. Her yelps, growls, and extemporisations pepper the material.

There is a rush of familiarity when one begins playing the album. Does it push forth or advance the genre? No, not really. But that’s not Turner’s intention. The album is proudly and comfortably in the vein of her formative influences, with no shortage of tight musicianship, soulful delivery, and arresting melody. Opening track ‘Got To Be Done’ lands all of the above in under three minutes with an engaging rhythm and old-school breakdown.

Always exuding a sense of purpose, Turner breathes her wisdom and authority into her lyrics. ‘Runaway’ captures Turner’s disdain for the culture of ever-soaring ambition and constant dissatisfaction which, in her view, characterises modern life. ‘Remember when life was oh so simple and we didn’t have try so hard / It was fine to be ordinary, not everything would deserve an applause,‘ she sings. And at the chorus: ‘We gotta get back to when it was easy.‘ On ‘Won’t Give Me Your Heart to Break’, she warns a love interest to keep his distance, wrapped around a bluesy, country-tinged melody, while banishing away melancholy with ‘Don’t Cry Over Yesterday’.

She channels the tradition of the protest song on ‘A Better Way’ which, like ‘Got To Be Done’, evokes the flat-footed grooves of The Staple Singers. ‘Let’s listen to each other rather than shouting louder,’ she sings in the verse. ‘We’re fighting to be heard / Can’t hear a single word / There has got to be a better way’, she states with punchy phrasing. She veers into more meditative, spiritual territory on ‘Under Your Sky’, backed by floaty guitar. ‘You’re watching over me,’ she sings over the tranquil melody.

Perhaps ironically for a such an unashamedly old-school album, the title track has the most contemporary feel out of the whole collection. A yearning ballad where she ponders love lost, ‘Love Was Here’ brings the album to its most poignant moment (followed by ‘Why Didn’t We Try’). She closes the tune with an anguished whimper, akin to her live rendition of Etta James’ ‘I’d Rather Go Blind’,

For those hungry for some unpretentious, old-school soul, Love Was Here will do the trick.

Standout Tracks: ‘Got To Be Done’, ‘Runaway’, ‘Love Was Here’