So you pick up a CD and you look at the sleeve. It's a common thing to do. You look at the sleeve design and you think it must be some sort of reissue. Only it isn't as this self titled album from Naomi Shelton and the Gospel Queens was actually released in 2009. Then you listen to it and you think that they must have gone to some length to make digital perfection sound that good but it is not digital at all (hoorah!) as it was recorded to tape. It all makes sense now.
That's the thing about this album - it sounds real. As you may have gathered from the name, this is twelve tracks of solid gold gospel soul done in that old down-home way. Naomi Shelton doesn't have a voice of angelic purity. Quite the opposite, in fact. Her voice speaks of years of experience of life, both good times and bad and that brings the real power to her words. Balancing the hard times are the powerhouse harmonies of the Gospel Queens who have a sound that reaches all the way up to the sky.
Purer moments like those in "Jordan River" bring joy to my heart but it was the sheer intensity of the version of "A Change is Gonna Come" that made this album for me. You would honestly think that Naomi Shelton had lived each and every one of those words. Pure class!
By the way, this release is also out as a proper vinyl LP. Available from Daptone Records.