Aladean Kheroufi - Sorry If I Hurt You / Nothing Ever Changes

As a lover of soul music it can be tough to lift your head from boxes of fifty year old 45s. From the iron-hand of Berry Gordy in Detroit to amphetamine-zonked working class kids in the North of England, to harmonizing Tejanos, and California car culture, soul music is a genre of subgenres each requiring nuance to properly understand. It's intoxicating and addictive. If you're reading this though, you've picked up something different. Aladean Kheroufi, a Canadian by way of Algeria has got something new to show you. His sparse, minimalist sound is a fresh and contemporary examination of soul music which we're proud to press to vinyl. The A side, Sorry If I Hurt You, is a sober exploration of guilt, victimhood, and the toxic power dynamics found in failed relationships. Syncopated rhythm, cutting fuzz guitar, and haunting background vocals along with Aladean's breathy delivery give this side an atmosphere you'll need an oxygen tank to survive. Flip the disc and you've got Nothing Ever Changes, a superficially sullen ballad that probes for meaning in self, relationships, and a place in the world. A delicate trumpet and flute arrangement lift the tone of this side from a place of darkness to one of hope, and conveys the spiritual growth that's found when such themes are analyzed. After a spin here you'll be forgiven to think that a career writing bright cheerful songs might not be in Aladean's trajectory, but what is pop music's loss is Kimberlite's gain.