Dave & Maurissa – You Decide / No Question About It

Dave & Maurissa – You Decide / No Question About It

LONDON/DETROIT – Dave and Maurissa
During the 35 years of making music, Dave Lee has constantly
been searching for new singers and writers to work with. A search
that’s ended up with many fantastic collaborations and releases
with the likes of Thelma Houston, Taka Boom, Dianne Charlemagne
and Seal. More recently this quest led him to Maurissa Rose and
the creation of their album ‘London / Detroit’. After hearing
Maurissa’s voice on a Theo Parrish record Dave reached out to her
and after a few long phone conversations and mp3 swaps they both
agreed a visit to London would be much more fun than trying to
work together remotely. Maurissa made the journey from her home
in Detroit to write and record an album with Dave at his studio in
March 2022 – as they both feel that creating music together in the
same room is always better. The fruits of their labour yielded 11
brand new songs (and 1 cover) tapping into their collective love of
Soul, Disco and R&B, with a sprinkle of Soulful House. This album
is a special one for Dave Lee as it’s the first time in his career he’s
recorded an entire album with same singer on every track.
In the album’s liner notes Dave talks of how Maurissa is a naturally
creative person, full of ideas, warm & unpretentious which is reflected in
her vocal performances throughout ‘London / Detroit’. Dave’s expertly
crafted music is backed up with a deeply passionate yet effortless
delivery from the Detroiter, a marker of someone who has honed and
perfected their art. When it comes to the music side of this LP, Dave Lee
is once again proving he’s still at the top of his game and shows no sign
of relenting. Drawing from his encyclopaedic knowledge of all things
Soul/Funk/Disco, we are treated to a range of styles, BPMs and
influences from 95bpm street soul to more uptempo disco and boogie
flavours. Be it the rippling synth voyage opener of ‘You Decide’, taking
the Johnnie Taylor classic ‘What About My Love’ into a modern Boogie
realm, upping the tempo on the soulful houser ‘I Feel the Sun” or
bringing the tempo back down to the bassy acidic chug of ‘You’re Giving
Me Life’. Mr Lee is truly adept at creating a modern disco soul sound
without the usage of samples.
London and Detroit might be two very different cities on opposite sides
of the Atlantic but this album is proof that creative synergy knows no
distance.
Out everywhere on Feb 28th on Gatefold Vinyl, CD and Digital/Streaming
Z RECORDS