Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes - Soultime (2015)

"Looking for a Good Time" is the album's defining song. The inspiration for the album came from hearing "Superfly" in the booze aisle at the supermarket and watching how the shoppers reacted. "Looking..." captures the upful mood of Curtis Mayfield in 1970 perfectly; if anything ever made me wish I could dance, this is it. The namechecks in the lyrics say it all, really: 'Isley Brothers and Curtis and Sly and Bobby Womack too'; it's perfect. "Words Fail Me" is a mature love ballad with very tasteful backing (even drummer Tom Seguso is reined in), muted horns and a lovely flugelhorn solo from Chris Anderson; Johnny's voice is sublime and it would melt a heart of stone. "Walking on a Thin Line" has a faintly menacing Latin feel evoking Isaac Hayes, The Temptations and The O'Jays but still totally Jukes. What comes next is a very rare thing indeed; an instrumental on a Jukes album. "Klank" is the love child of "Soul Finger" and "Third Stone from the Sun" with harmonica and tenor sax solos; they're allowed to have fun as well, you know.

"Ain't Nobody's Bizness" is a bit of light-hearted fun. I'm Not That Lonely" totally nails the Motown sound (Four Tops, anyone?) while "The Heart Always Knows" harks back to a much earlier time (Sam Cooke, or maybe The Cascades). It's a slow, gentle ballad/. The albuim's close. "Reality" takes its influence from the psychedelic soul of the late sixties/early seventies.

Working with Jeff Kazee and the latest incarnation of The Jukes, Southside Johnny's turned out a modern soul classic.