Saun & Starr: Look Closer

One of the best music docs of recent years was Twenty Feet From Stardom, about unheralded backing singers.

For many years, New Yorkers Saundra Williams and Starr Duncan Lewis were backing vocalists for Sharon Jones as The Dapettes before Daptone decided to bring them into the spotlight.

It was a canny move: Williams and Lewis possess voices that send these soulful, gospel-tinged tunes into the stratosphere.

The material, as you’d expect from the home of Sharon Jones and Charles Bradley, is vintage in tone and timber, but the duo’s mix’n’match of the material is invigorating.

Hot Shot is a superb example of the synergy between singers and the Daptone house band, while Sunshine (You're Blowin' My Cool) and Another Love Like Mine are also weighty reasons to relish the duo's step-up to the front of the stage.

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