Psychedelic soul visions from the man Adrian Younge. You might know Younge for scoring (and editing) Black Dynamite, but for Something About April the talented multi-instrumentalist/producer goes under the Venice Dawn moniker for a batch of gritty cinematic instrumentals with a hip-hop aesthetic. If you put the sound of Ennio Morricone, Wu-Tang, Otis Redding, King Crimson, and Portishead in the blender, you can sort of get a picture of what's going on in Something About April. It is at the same time soulful and heavy, dark and psychedelic, and just plain awesome. One of the tracks here were featured on the limited Wax Poetics Serato disc - "It's Me" a heavy, dark and cinematic modern soul number with Rebecca Jordan on vocals, but we are treated to a full album with highlights including "Turn Down The Sound," "Two Hearts Combine," "Reverie," and "Dusts Of Gold." Impressive work from a leader in the new soul renaissance. 2015 repress with bonus cut "Niacin." Recommended.

• music label: Linear Labs 2015

reviewed by TKB 11/2013