Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings - Soul Time!

Every Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings show opened the same way: a voice from the wings announcing "Ladies and gentlemen, it's soul time!" The audience erupted before she even hit the stage. Soul Time!, released in November 2011 on Daptone Records, takes that declaration as its title and its mandate, gathering 12 tracks that had been setting dance floors on fire at their live shows long before they ever found their way onto an album.

The collection leans into the funkier, looser side of the band's sound, a deliberate counterpoint to the polished soul of their studio records. Most of the material was previously unreleased or locked away as exclusive 45-only pressings, meaning that even the most devoted fans would have had to dig hard to own everything here. The opening one-two punch of "Genuine Pts. 1 and 2" runs nearly seven minutes and builds to a breathless wail from Jones that makes the split feel like a feature rather than a flaw. "He Said I Can," "When I Come Home," and "Longer and Stronger" are vintage Dap-Kings, tight as a drum and absolutely irresistible, while a cover of Shuggie Otis's "Inspiration Information" closes things out with a warmth and grace that has led more than a few listeners to declare it better than the original.

Sharon Jones spent decades working as a corrections officer and a bank teller, singing on weekends, before Daptone gave her the stage she deserved in her mid-forties. By the time Soul Time! arrived, she was widely recognized as the reigning queen of modern soul, a performer whose live show was among the most joyful and participatory experiences in music. This album is a direct extension of that stage energy, the sound of one of the great soul revues of its era captured at full, blazing heat.