“I’ve been gone so long // But I am back where I belong // Hey, everything is gonna be alright now”, we hear in the title track, and that is exactly what it feels like. Early last year, Canadian septet The Vanrays released their aptly titled full-length debut album Put It Out in in a beautifully illustrated sleeve, but apparently its recording sessions were so fruitful that it yielded six more songs that are too good to keep on the shelf, so they are brought together on this Hey! Alright Now EP. Spencer McKinnon (vocals), Phil Addington (bass), Brian Barr (guitar), Gordon Rempel (electric piano, organ), Jose Blanco (trumpet), Melissa Lee (saxophone, backing vocals) and Eric Lowe (drums, backing vocals) call their sound East Van Soul, which amounts to a funky and compelling mix of classic R&B and gritty garage music, rooted in the 70s. Groovy guitars, punchy horns and goosebump-inducing vocals, then you know: “It’s gonna be alright.”
Hey! Alright Now, produced by Scott Fletcher, is out now digitally via Bonerattle Records. Also featuring Neil Bliss (trombone) and Shelley Preston (backing vocals).
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