After stumbling across Debórah Bond's 2003 debut, DayAfter, some five or so years ago I fell instantly in love with not only her voice -- the sweet, soulful, crystal-clear instrument that it is -- but also her particular brand of soul music. To label it eclectic would be doing Debórah, and her band/production team Third Logic, a disservice. One listen to the album shows that rather than trying to cover all bases, DeBo & Co. had a knack for taking influences from soul, funk, R&B, acid jazz, and dance music and melding them into a unique sound that was both familiar yet uniquely her own.
In the years since her '03 release Debórah has been on her grind, playing live and writing new material, but I secretly feared that she may go down in history as one of the many talented artists who release an underappreciated classic, only to slide into obscurity, never to be heard from again. Thankfully Debórah was more tenacious than I gave her credit for, and she battled back to release Madam Palindrome, one of my favorite albums of 2011 -- in fact of the last few years -- that I'm sure will go down amongst indie-soul fans as a sure-fire future classic.
Again with Third Logic behind her, and a collaboration (albeit one that occurred several years ago) with underground favorite Lewis Taylor, the album was destined to be great, but even I was surprised when tracks such as "Perfect," "If I Didn't Need You," "Blind Paradise," and the single, "You Are The One," caressed my eagerly awaiting ears. A co-sign from house music royalty Reel People, in the form of a remix of her first single and a release on their label, just cemented 2011 as year for Debórah Bond to be proud of.
With a relatively small catalog behind her for a career spanning more than eight years, it's testament to the quality of her output that Debórah Bond's name is still on the lips and in the minds of those who appreciate real soul music. Here's hoping that Madam Palindrome is just the start of Debórah's return and that we don't have to wait another eight years for the third installment, I don't think my ears could stand the wait.
