Dojo Cuts Feat. Roxie Ray - Take From Me (2012)

This is Dojo Cuts' second album, and I think it's very clear that the band has really found its own sound. If the first album was more of an introduction to the band and their musical world, Take From Me is a much more confident, mature piece of material. At this point, the musicians know exactly what they want to do, and this is felt throughout the album.

Here, we have much less of the feeling of a "retro band" trying to revive old soul and funk music. We hear much more of a real, familiar soul band, with its own character and natural sound. Dojo Cuts play very relaxed, confident and instinctive, and Roxie Ray is not simply a singer alongside the band: her voice is one of the most important central elements of the entire album. It has power, sensuality and emotion, and it fits very well with the band's groove-based, deeply soul and funk-based sound.

Take From Me is basically built from the world of deep funk, soul, vintage soul and modern R&B, but fortunately it never feels monotonous for a moment. There are delicate, soft, almost intimate soul ballads, rawer and more energetic funk songs, and lighter, more melodic crossover songs. It is this variety that makes the album truly enjoyable.

Moreover, the contrast between the songs is very good. After a calmer, more emotional song, the harder, dirtier funk-like “Mamacita” can suddenly explode, then the instrumental “Sonny's Strut” comes, and then a more melodic, soulful composition again. This way, the album keeps moving constantly, and it doesn't become a long, uniform series of retro-funk songs. Something is always happening, the mood is always changing a little.

Record Kicks described the album as a return to the roots of soul, with a strong influence of modern funk, and I think that sums up what Take From Me is all about very well. The sound has the legacy of Stax and Motown, the influence of James Brown is palpable, and of course, a love of classic American soul. However, Dojo Cuts doesn't simply want to pretend that we're back in the sixties. It doesn't copy the past, but takes the best elements of it and infuses them with its own energy, its own sound and a little modern flavor.

Take From Me is therefore not just a well-done retro-soul album. Rather, it is an album on which a younger band confidently reaches back into the classic traditions of soul and funk, while maintaining its own identity. And perhaps that's what makes it work so well: it respects the past, but at the same time doesn't get stuck in it.