M. Cally (New 5-Star EP Review!)
Originally published in Daddy B. Nice's CD Reviews.
November 17, 2024:
M. CALLY: 40 & Up (Plus 1)
Five Stars ***** Can't miss. Pure Southern Soul heaven.
M. Cally was the recipient of Daddy B. Nice's
"Best Southern Soul Debut" award for 2023 (shared with Lady Redtopp), and that award-caliber expertise and inspiration continues to maturate in his newest release,
40 & Up. The "Plus 1" in the headline above refers to the M. Cally single
They Talkin' 'Bout Me, another thunderclap of a track released so soon after 40 & UP that it begs to be considered (and purchased) part and parcel with the EP. Together, they represent some of the strongest music to arrive in 2024.
Here's the track list for
40 & Up:
1. I Can Try (feat. Ronnie Spencer)
2. Ain't No Love Like This
3. Wake Up
4. She Say I Make Her Cheat
5. Mrs. Parker (feat. Jeter Jones)
6. She's So Fine (feat. Roi "Chip" Anthony & Nino)
Cally's confident production and double-tracked vocals, as hickory-tough as vintage Jaye Hammer, are givens, but what really impresses in this new material is his willingness to branch out in style and not just repeat and potentially dilute previous successes like "Brown Liquor," "Southern Soul Sunday" and "That Comeback".
"I Can Try" kicks off the set with a stepping beat and a somewhat softer, broader and more diffuse presentation than we've heard from Cally before.
"Ain't No Loving Like This"showcases Cally's deftness with melody and tempo as well as introducing robust keyboard/organ fills, while the somber but pleasantly locomoting
"She Say I Make Her Cheat" rounds out a trio of "can't miss" cuts. These tracks swing with melodies so fresh and tantalizing it's nearly impossible not to hum along, not to mention the talented guest artists, including Jeter Jones and Roi "Chip" Anthony, who enhance the remaining three songs.
However, like an inspired afterthought, M. Cally has released a follow-up single,
"They Talkin' Bout Me," in which Cally robs the legendary Marvin Gaye line "I heard it through the grapevine" to forge a completely new stepping song, one which nudges the listener into its musical currents with the most pleasant effects. Cally's 2023 breakthrough singles "Brown Liquor" and "Southern Soul Saturday" may have actually been more technically realized, introducing a southern soul singer with the plain-spoken directness and clarity of Mel Waiters. But like pioneers in 19th-century covered wagons, these new songs traverse a bumpier road, moving into new and unexplored musical territories. They're if anything more mesmerizing, every note hinting that these broader influences will coalesce into an even more panoramic and long-lasting M. Cally brand.
---Daddy B. Nice.
Buy M. Cally's new 40 & Up EP at Apple.
Buy M. Cally's new They Talkin Bout Me Single at Apple.
Listen to all the tracks from M. Cally's 40 & Up EP on YouTube.
July 26, 2024:NEW EP ALERT!
Buy M. Cally's THE BAD BOY OF SOUTHERN SOUL at Apple.
THE BAD BOY OF SOUTHERN SOUL TRACK LIST:
1. I Know A Place
2. Break Up To Make Up (feat. Fat Daddy)
3. Brown Liquor
4. If Walls Could Talk
5. That ComeBack
6. Daisy Dukes & Cowboy Boots (feat. Jeter Jones)
Daddy B. Nice notes:
...So this EP actually debuted last year. We're just catching up. Cally won the Best Southern Soul Debut Artist Award of 2023 (scroll down this page) this past January. The EP contains "Brown Liquor," one of the two singles that were high-charting here. Unfortunately, "Southern Soul Sunday," which hit #1, is not; it may not have been released at the time. However, the popular "Daisy Dukes & Cowboy Boots' with Jeter Jones is included. The other four tunes form a second tier, with "If Walls Could Talk," "I Know A Place" and "That ComeBack" standing out.
Unlike many of the new young guns in southern soul, Cally is not a former hiphop artist. Nor is he a singles-only artist. He's actually published three long-play R&B/Soul albums (2017 through 2020) but recently found his metier in southern soul. He has enough new southern soul material to do a full-length album and hopefully soon will. Until then, this invigorating little set will whet the appetite.
Listen to M. Cally singing "Brown Liquor" on YouTube.
Listen to all the tracks from M. Cally's THE BAD BOY OF SOUTHERN SOUL on YouTube.
Buy M. Cally's BAD BOY OF SOUTHERN SOUL at Apple.
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Questions?
Comments?
Or Information for Daddy B. Nice?
e-Mail:
daddybnice@southernsoulrnb.com
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January 21, 2024:
Listen to Lady Redtopp singing "Part Time Lover" on YouTube.
Buy Lady Redtopp's "Part Time Lover" & "Trail Ride" at Apple.
November 1, 2023: Reprinted from Daddy B. Nice's Corner
Daddy B. Nice's Top 10 "BREAKING" Southern Soul Singles For. . .
-------NOVEMBER 2023-------
1.
"Southern Soul Sunday"-----M. Cally
His “Brown Liquor” announced the presence of a genuine talent, and his “Daisy Dukes & Cowboy Boots” reinforced his stature, but M. Cally’s “Southern Soul Sunday” is unique and best of all. It crosses all kinds of genre borders, yet it burns with a southern soul luminosity that will make Cally a headliner in any southern soul venue he wishes to grace.
Listen to M. Cally singing "Southern Soul Sunday" on YouTube.
--Daddy B. Nice
About M. Cally (New 5-Star EP Review!)
M. Cally is the performance name of Marques Callaway of San Antonio, Texas, home of the late southern soul legend Mel Waiters and the late southern soul singer Larry Shannon Hargrove.
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