BROTHER WALLACE - Electric Love

A former music teacher endowed with a raspy vocal timbre and just the right dose of gospel and soul, Brother Wallace dives fearlessly into the soul-revival melting pot with an album recorded at Peter Gabriel's legendary Real World studios. "Electric Love" is an interesting debut, not without a few winning ideas, but it's also a showcase of "wanting but not quite managing." The singer and pianist from West Point, Georgia digs firmly into tradition, putting Little Richard and Sam Cooke on the same footing, but in trying to make his material authentic and visceral, he overlooks some elements that would have shown off his vocal qualities to better effect.

Bolstered by a driving single like "Who's That?", the album quickly starts showing cracks. The horn section is weak, and the bold arrangement, not without a bit of sly dissonance, doesn't fully do justice to the artist's potential: just listen to the live version of the track to grasp in full the strengths and weaknesses of the album's final mix. Brother Wallace's heartfelt and genuine soul revival works in fits and starts. The Stax/Motown-style brio of "You're The Man" feels rather thin, while the pop-gospel exercise of "Gone With The Wind", following in Otis Redding's footsteps, leans on riffs lifted from the classics and an ordinary soul chorus. On the flip side, the urgent, visceral "Let's Get Together" showcases Wallace's interpretive skills, and its political and social message comes through loud and clear, though it's the aching slow-soul of "No God In This Town" that takes the title of most intense performance on the record.

Still, there are plenty of reasons to appreciate Brother Wallace's debut: tracks like the title track and "Who Do You Love?" are lively and catchy, but despite his considerable vocal talent, the overriding impression remains that of a record with a somewhat artificial sound, one that, in trying to steer clear of technological temptations, fails to deliver sonics on a par with the songwriting and performances: witness the underwhelming gospel prayer of "Any Day Now". Tellingly, the rawest and grittiest track from the original tracklist, the harrowing blues of "Me And My Running Shoes", ended up being left off the album. Brother Wallace is a talented singer, but the surrounding production, courtesy of shrewd producer and co-writer Dan Taylor of The Heavy (on whose records Wallace often appears on backing vocals), is a bit too lukewarm to rise above a well-earned pass mark.

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01/06/2026