Alice Russell

Of the current crop of revivalist soul starlets oddly seeking to recreate the music of their '60s/'70s inspirations note-for-note, gifted UK songstress Alice Russell is without a doubt the most sonically ferocious of the bunch, her voice expertly melding the qualities of both an awe-inspiring storm and its preceding calm. With Pot Of Gold, her fourth solo album to date, Russell and her fellow band-mates offer a well honed blend of dynamic soul and polished funk flush with warbly organ murmurings, snappy guitar licks and punchy horns, with ample gospel inflections thrown in for spiritual effect. The crew do a good job of mixing things up and keeping it fresh, grooving to the slinky feel and computerized pace-keeping chirp of "Let Us Be," mating bristling jazz with the breezy broken-beat shuffle of "Universe." If there's one complaint to be made about the record it's that it all sounds a little too studied and clean. Of course, raw isn't something you can learn in school.