BIO
With the release of their much anticipated new single Wonderful Pain SOLO reminds us of what weve been missing in music.
SOLO stands on the shoulders of giants. Since the 1995 release of their critically acclaimed Gold selling debut SOLO, theyve referenced Americas Soul music legends without mimicking (creating legendary status in their own right) and they continue to be unlike any other R&B group since.
The same group that brought you Heaven", "Where do you want me to put it", Touch me, and the A cappella vignettes of Sam Cooke classics Cupid, What a wonderful world, and the Drifters Under the boardwalk keeps Soul alive by creating new classics for the souls of generations to come.
After a self imposed 10+ year hiatus SOLO has returned (minus one singer) with their trademark vocal harmonies and textures, and a fusion of contemporary music production with traditional melodies. From the first notes of first single Wonderful Pain SOLO successfully convinces you that they are R&B Souls true heirs apparent. Their sound is immediately identifiable and cuts through all of the noise we have come to know as contemporary R&B Soul.
The new album SOLO 3.0 reeks of influences of The Temptations, Bobby Womack, Motown, Chess, and the sounds of Philadelphia soul. It grabs you like a slow aged scotch and wont let go, and you wont want it to! SOLO 3.0 picks up where the group abruptly left off in 1998. By merging warm authentic vintage moogs and synthetic strings with gut bucket guitar licks and chopped up samples, to the live horns bouncing atop dirty snares all seamlessly joined and backed up by doo wop harmony, SOLO recreates the lane that only they have traveled since 1995. Nobody does like them.
SOLO 3.0 ventures into topics that only time and experience can create. They group wrote, coproduced, and arranged every song on the album collaborating with a fresh new group of producers and band members. On Wonderful Pain (co-produced by M. Redmond) you can almost smell Al Greens famous hot grits cooking on the back burner as Dan sings of his morning love being served on the table right next the bagels. MF Keeper (also co-produced by M. Redmond) means to entice and enrage sounding like it was locked in R Kellys vault of hit singles. With D Nells aggressive raspy delivery of the opening lines Turn around dont act like you just met me, Sit that adown, let me tell you something bout me, Im the type of man who keeps it real, Im a keeper, Im the real deal!you cant help but want to listen to whats next. The chorus alone would make it any good mans theme song for years to come. On Perfect man (co-produced by Maurice Premiere Raymond) the guys make a plausible case for male imperfection and plead for understanding. On Lifetyme (co-produced by Jonathon Bonkaz Howard) they travel the globe to find true love only to find that it was right in front of them all along, and on the heavily hip hop influenced Bet it all WIN (co-produced by Lez Lemon) they make the case to bet it all on them and win. With this album one would be smart to do just that! SOLO has returned with another classic, timely, and relevant album full of heartfelt gems that makes one remember what it felt like to feel something more from music than just the beat.
SOLO (Dan Stokes, D Nell Chavis, and upright Bassist, Rob Anderson) were first discovered singing street corner doo wop by super-producers Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis who in 1995 released the groups self-titled debut "SOLO on their then Perspective/A&M records label to critical acclaim. The groups beauty lies in the juxtaposition of textures with D Nells ruff and gruff textured voice balanced against the smooth powerful tenor of Dans voice. The two are perfect complements to Rob Andersons jazzy upright bass and allows SOLO to stand alone.
Nominated for a Soul Train Music Award and selling more than 750,000 copies, SOLO garnered 2 top 10 singles (Heaven, #1 Billboard AC R&B / Where do you want me to put it, #8 Billboard R&B). The groups sophomore follow up "4 Bruthas and a Bass" released in the fall of 1998 on A&M Records continued SOLOs collaborations with soul musics greats and showcased them working with the late Great Gerald Levert, writing with Angie Stone, recording with the talented female group Brownstone, and releasing another hit single the sexy "Touch Me" (#23 Billboard R&B) co-produced and co-written with Raphael Saadiq.
Dubbed The Temptations of the 90s SOLO has touched millions of fans worldwide by touring in The USA, Canada, Europe, and Japan. They have opened up for artist such as the Queen herself Aretha Franklin, R Kelly and the famous Down Low Tour, Michael Bolton, Patty Labelle, Gladys Knight, Maze and Frankie Beverly, Chaka Kahn, The Notorious BIG, LL Cool Jay, and many others.
