Groove Armada: Late Night Tales presents Automatic Soul (3LP)

Format: 3x12" in printed sleeve.

It's 1983 and you’ve just hopped into your Ford Capri with your girlfriend Julie. You live in Harlow but in your mind you’re really somewhere near Salou in Spain next to your yacht. But what you really love is soul and at Sups in Loughton they play nothing else. Well, it’s not really 1983 at all. It’s 2014, but listening to this electrified soul will take you right back to that zone. Tom Findlay, one half of Grammy nominated duo Groove Armada, has put this collection together – a slice of authenticity in itself. Tom has also tinkered with some of these tunes, re-editing many of them to be more dancefloor friendly. You’ll probably recognise some tunes. There’s Mtume’s incredible ‘Juicy Fruit’, which still sounds ahead of its time and modern, while ‘I Specialize In Love’, mixed by disco legend Tee Scott, is even older but sounds just as sprightly. The 80s was pretty much dominated by Minneapolis courtesy of Prince and his former collaborators Jam & Lewis, and the latter contribute a couple of cracking productions, Thelma Houston’s ‘You Used To Hold Me So Tight’ and Alexander O’Neal’s ‘What’s Missing’. And because this is Late Night Tales we always have our exclusive cover version, this time done by Sugardaddy, Findlay’s and Tim Hutton’s project, who have delivered an excellent rendition of ‘Don’t Look Any Further’. Pull up a barstool, order a cocktail, take a sip and pretend you’re lying on a shagpile carpet with the soul star of your dreams.

"Automatic Soul, much like my previous Late Night Tales compilation Music For Pleasure, is very much based around a sound. It’s a sound I feel has been overlooked - 80s R&B music, with drum machines, synthesisers and invariably brilliant vocals. It’s formed the basis of my rare groove sets for all the years I’ve been playing out. It’s not the most fashionable, but for me it’s the perfect blend of technology and soul, hence the title of this album, Automatic Soul. There are many tracks I could have included, and no doubt some I shouldn’t, but I’ve tried to represent what I consider to be the best of this era. It’s not a classic Late Night Tales. It’s quite a personal journey, which I hope some of you are willing to share…"

Tom Findlay, Groove Armada - September 2014