Charlie Faye & the Fayettes craft smart soul-pop that merges the swinging, swaying sound and style of ‘60s girl groups with a vibe that’s so current, they’re already dancing to the forefront of the retro-revival movement.
Faye and Fayettes BettySoo and Akina Adderley make music, sweet music, all right, with an irresistible groove that'll get you moving. The trio’s shared height (they’re all within a half-inch of 5-foot-1) and distinct ethnicities (Jewish, Korean and African-American) just adds cute to their considerable charms. But all the cuteness in the world wouldn’t matter without songs, and here, Faye’s great ear and intelligent writing come to the fore. For the group's debut record, she penned 11 tracks that marry beguiling lyrics with incredibly catchy melodies. The album was recorded in Los Angeles and Austin by producer/engineer Dave Way (Michael Jackson, Fiona Apple).
Two standouts, “Coming Round the Bend” ...
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Charlie Faye & the Fayettes craft smart soul-pop that merges the swinging, swaying sound and style of ‘60s girl groups with a vibe that’s so current, they’re already dancing to the forefront of the retro-revival movement.
Faye and Fayettes BettySoo and Akina Adderley make music, sweet music, all right, with an irresistible groove that'll get you moving. The trio’s shared height (they’re all within a half-inch of 5-foot-1) and distinct ethnicities (Jewish, Korean and African-American) just adds cute to their considerable charms. But all the cuteness in the world wouldn’t matter without songs, and here, Faye’s great ear and intelligent writing come to the fore. For the group's debut record, she penned 11 tracks that marry beguiling lyrics with incredibly catchy melodies. The album was recorded in Los Angeles and Austin by producer/engineer Dave Way (Michael Jackson, Fiona Apple).
Two standouts, “Coming Round the Bend” and “Green Light,” pay fabulous homage to the Shangri-Las and Phil Spector’s Wall of Sound. “Bend’s" cantering beat and just-right production turn every second of its 2½ minutes into sheer delight (Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Pete Thomas, of Elvis Costello’s Attractions, gets the album’s drumming credit). The equally strong “Green Light” could serve as an answer song to the Supremes’ “Stop! In the Name of Love.” “You’ve got the green light baby,” Faye sings in her sweet-smooth come-on voice. “I’m saying yes, not maybe. Why are we taking things so slow?”
With the Fayettes, leader Charlie Faye has finally found the sonic sweet spot she started seeking even before her last album, 2013’s You Were Fine, You Weren’t Even Lonely, which reached No. 16 on the Americana Music Association’s airplay chart and earned her a “Songwriter of the Week” designation from American Songwriter magazine’s website — not to mention an out-of-the-blue email from Grammy-winning artist and producer Peter Asher, who praised her work and added, “I look forward to … hearing what you do next.”
His encouragement was just the catalyst she needed to crystallize her love of the Shirelles and Ronettes with her desire to break out of the solo singer-songwriter mold.
"I wanted to do something more fun — to write upbeat songs and create an entertaining show, because that's what I want to see," Faye explains. “I’ve always loved the girl groups from the ‘60s; that’s the stuff I grew up on. And I’ve always loved singing harmonies with my friends, so it was a natural progression for me to want to do a girl group.”
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