Rehan Dalal - Got To Feel It - review!

Ray Charles, Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder fill a large portion of my vinyl collection so when I read that up and coming soul singer Rehan Dalal had listed them as influences, he quickly gained my attention. Rehan was born in Bombay, India, but has migrated to Toronto, Ontario. Upon arriving in Canada, he learned to play guitar and began singing. With this new found passion for music and his natural talent, he just released his debut album Got To Feel It.  

 

 

Rehan’s back-up band gives the album a ‘big band’ feel, showcasing some absolutely incredible musicians on horns, strings, and funky guitars with complex drumming. My only quirk is that the back-up band is almost too good. The music is very polished, sounding as if these band members were just studio musicians. Money can buy anybody an incredible backup band which sometimes can mask any flaws that the primary artists have in their own abilities. Fortunately, this doesn’t seem to be the case on Got To Feel It; Rehan can stand his own ground, a fabulous singer with undeniable talent.  If my only negativity on this album is that it sounds too good, I think Rehan and his band must be doing something right.

Got To Feel It was released digitally June 25^th (You can find it on iTunes). Ok, I can understand that digital is the audio medium world that we are living in, but where do you find the liner notes? Who wrote these songs? Who are the musicians? Perhaps I’m just an analog guy stuck in the middle of a digital world so this information may be readily available, but I could not easily find it.

Overall, I am very pleased with this album. It has ten great songs filled with incredible musicians and soul singing. If you’re a fan of the older Motown artists, this new album should be a welcome addition to your collection. Canadian soul music is definitely not mainstream, so it’s a refreshing change to see some new faces. Rehan came out full force with Got To Feel It and deserves credit for a great debut album.