slow train soul - trail of dawn

first time i heard about slow train soul was through "naturally" which i heard on some lounge compilation and i liked it quite a bit. the act consists of morten hansen aka varano which i'm a big fan of and michelle nichol aka lady z whom i've never heard of prior to hearing the song. a few months after hearing the compilation i saw the cdsingles for "naturally" and "in the black of the night" in one of stockholms record stores and i grabbed them both.

i thought it was fitting as both used the same artwork but stylised differently as it was based of a photo of the act where it's been reduced to contours.  "naturally" uses a white background and black contours and "in the black of the night" has it vice versa, probably with the song title in mind. in terms of the title tracks i'll take "naturally" over the latter but "in the the black of the night" also came with a mighty b-side which i fell in love with on the first listen.

"trail of dawn", which is also included on the album called "illegal cargo", is an ode to clubbing and tells the feeling of the end of a really good night. it quite an epic and goes through some emotions and stages and i really like how it starts almost melancholic with these gorgeous but sad strings. this feeling changes a bit as the drums and a really resonant bassline appears in the picture and it sets the stage for lady z's vocals.

nichols also feels a bit melancholic in her delivery but her words aren't of sadness but more joyous and the words are about all the fun that the night of dancing has brought. this juxtaposition is interesting and it's emphasised as the phrase "now that the music's over, turn on the bright white light" becomes a mantra of sorts after the verses are finished. somewhere in the back of the mind of clubbers everywhere you never want a really good night out to end.

all of these emotion are given a brilliant soundtracking to by varano and lady z (and guests fred portelli & vezio bacci) which provides ups and downs with strings, lovely drums & percussion and a bassline that hits hard.

buy here (itunes)