Dad Junior expertly fuses soul and funk on his 5th record release, "Soup Fantasies"
Review by Austin Sher
Freshly released to the planet on December 11th, 2020, Dad Junior has just shared his 5th album, Soup Fantasies. Do yourselves a huge favor and read along for our detailed review of the record, as well as some background and insight on this incredible independent artist.
Currently based out of Portland, Oregon, Dad Junior is the work of solo multi-instrumentalist, Patrick Nagel. While he’s been at it within the music scene for over two and a half years now, his output has been incredibly high with this being his 5th official release so far. While we highly recommend checking out his past works, this review will be solely on this killer new album, Soup Fantasies.
Coming in at a track length of 6, spanning 13 beautiful minutes, the artist was inspired “to make something a little upbeat to face 2020 and inject a little groove into the aether”. Well let us just say, this is the perfect amount of funk injection that the world needed right about now. Featuring tons of soul as well, Dad Junior has showed off his multi-instrumentalist chops with the inclusion of electric piano, inventive bass lines, and a great deal of guitar as well. That’s not to mention the multiple different vocals featured as well. We’re not quite sure if some are samples or not, but it doesn’t really matter, because they work wonderfully.
Honestly, we have next to no cons to mention about the album as a whole. The only thing that we feel the urge to mention is that it’s not long enough! At only 13 minutes, we loved every single second that came through our speakers, but had only wished it was an hour. That’s not to knock Dad Junior as an artist, because anything more could have served as unnecessary filler, but more of this sound is what we’re currently craving.
Although it’s 6 tracks in total, the entire record breezed right by as if it were one perpetual song flowing right into the next. Featuring so many lovely instrumental performances from the artist, and vocally as well, it’s hard to call Soup Fantasies anything but an absolute winner. After our multiple listens though, we had no choice but to dive into the rest of his discography, which very obviously did not disappoint as well.
The main point really that we’re trying to get across here is that if you like good music, look no further, because this record is for you. Lovers of all genres are guaranteed to find something they enjoy, so do yourself the favor like we mentioned in the beginning, and get listening! You will not be disappointed in the slightest.
For all things Dad Junior, to listen, and to keep up with all future releases and information, please check out the following links below.
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