Having first come to public attention via their 2016 self-titled EP, Canadian 8-piece group Gold Complex have hit incredible new heights with their first full length album New Soul.
Latest single ‘Homegirl’ gets the album off to an energetic and memorable start. There’s a real ‘big-band’ feel to the whole track that will have toes tapping and faces smiling, while the lyrics are catchy – as in Bruno Mars/Mark Ronson kind of catchy – and address those special few moments that can often cement or begin a new relationship: “I just met this classy girl/ She said she wanted to take it easy/ No I’m never one for labels/ Three weeks later she’ll be calling me baby”.
If there’s a weak song on the album and I use the term ‘weak’ very lightly, it comes in the form of ‘Driver’, but that’s only because the hook, or in this case, hooks, featured in the first half don’t quite have the impact that they should, but other than that, it’s a more than competent piece. There’s an emotional intensity to the ever-so-slightly rock influenced, soulful number that is ‘Fight About Nothing.’ As with ‘Homegirl’, the song focuses on a relationship, only this time, it’s about one which, like so many, has its ups and downs, and the fact the subject matter is something many listeners will no doubt be familiar with, especially when coupled together with lyrics such as: “Is it cause I ain’t got no money/ Or is it because I haven’t had the time/ I gave you all the love in my heart, in my heart/ But you say my love ain’t worth a dime”, makes the track extremely powerful.
‘Meant To Dance’ meanwhile is perhaps the one track that veers slightly off the “familiar” path the album sets the listener on from the outset, however this isn’t a bad thing. The production, combined with a rarely seen (or heard) music-off between a piano and guitar, makes for a pleasant surprise in the grand scheme of things.
‘Not Another Love Song’ starts off well but for the most part is nothing spectacular, but when the breakdown kicks in (that’s the only way I can describe it – give it a listen to see what I mean), it’s like the track kicks into another gear. The highlight of New Soul however is unmistakable and you find it right at the end of the collection. The vocals on ‘New Soul’ are, for lack of a better term, phenomenal in their scope; intertwining whispers with heartfelt, emotive cries in a manner that I for one have never heard before – that alone makes the song worthy of putting on repeat, and telling everyone you know about it.
There’s a consistency to New Soul that makes Gold Complex’s album – with each song capable of standing alone and yet working strongly alongside the next – worthy of the praise it’s received so far and if this collection is anything to go by, their future is very bright indeed.
New Soul is out now.
