Keep Reachin' Up cover
Released

Go figure: one of the great underappreciated singers of the 2000s funk/soul revival’s early wave was an American ex-pat Brooklyn native cutting records in Helsinki. Nicole Willis’s turn in the mid ’90s acid jazz ensemble Repercussions sent her off into an unpredictable run of slept-on psychedelic R&B throwbacks, with Keep Reachin’ Up, the first record she cut with the Soul Investigators in this anything-old-can-sound-new-again mode, as a stunning (re)arrival. The Curtom-funk pump-up of “Feeling Free,” the cognac-hazed, langourous string flourishes of early ’60s breakup vibe “No One’s Gonna Love You,” and the sophisticated strut of Pam Grier flick-worthy “Blues Downtown” make fine accompaniment for her voice’s ability to soar, punch, coo, and seethe with the best of them.

Nate Patrin

Recommended by

Suggestions
Wildflowers cover

Wildflowers

Connie Price & the Keystones
Music of My Mind cover

Music of My Mind

Stevie Wonder
The Second Coming cover

The Second Coming

Rudolph Johnson
The Delfonics cover

The Delfonics

The Delfonics
Emma Jean cover

Emma Jean

The Expressions, Lee Fields
Higher! cover

Higher!

Sly & the Family Stone
My World cover

My World

Lee Fields & the Expressions