There is a delicious irony buried at track 14 of this installment: 'What a way to love' is credited to Kenny Bobien — the man the scene calls the king of gospel house, whose falsetto has powered anthems for Louie Vega, Kerri Chandler and Dennis Ferrer — and it appears here as an instrumental. Anyone who knows that voice will feel the empty space; anyone who doesn't will find the song stands on its own: six and a half minutes of warm keys in E-flat minor at 126 BPM, written with Ruben Vidal, like a pulpit left empty so the organ can speak.
The longest cut on the volume also skips the vocal spotlight. 'I Want You (In My Life)', in its 8000 Leagues Under Instrumental version, stretches close to eight minutes at 127 BPM in A-flat minor. Behind it stands Steal Vybe, the duo of Chris Forman (New Jersey) and Damon Bennett (Philadelphia), who have spent years moving between soulful house, broken beat and jazz-funk; Stephanie Renee, a regular collaborator of theirs, is credited alongside Chris Dockins. It is the densest moment on the record, the one that asks for a big system and low lights.
And then there is 'Love Child (TRP Mix)' by Antonio Ocasio with Earl Green. Ocasio, raised in the South Bronx, founded the Tribal Winds label in 1998 with one mandate: dance music with a spiritual foundation. On the 2020 original, Green handled lead vocals, backgrounds and keys while Ocasio took care of percussion and programming; this TRP Mix, 6:50 at 125 BPM, keeps that hand-on-drum pulse you cannot fake with a click.
Around these three pillars orbit another 22 cuts between 115 and 128 BPM, with names like KqueSol, Languez and Pat Bedeau alongside Rona Ray. But the detail that defines the volume is this: two of its three centerpieces arrive without a voice. On a soulful house compilation, it turns out the soul also lives in the instrumentals.
Sources: 5 Magazine · Global Soul Radio · Bandcamp
