Premiere: Matador! Soul Sounds’ Vibrant “Too Late” Is Right on Time

Matador Soul Sounds © Ashley LaBlonde, Wide Eyed Studios
Matador Soul Sounds © Ashley LaBlonde, Wide Eyed Studios

Is it too late to make you stay?

Matador! Soul Sounds’ new single “Too Late” is a dynamic lament with vivid energy, unleashing the wilder side of this emerging jazz/funk/soul fusion band.

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Like a blast from the past, Matador! Soul Sounds bring the warmth and verve of a bygone era to life with spirit and grace. The band’s new single, “Too Late,” is a fiery soul/funk fusion that hits everything right on time.

Wanna take back the words I said last night
The look you gave me told me something wasn’t right
I’m only human, didn’t mean to start a fight
Wanna be the woman that you need
“Too Late” – Matador! Soul Sounds
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Atwood Magazine is proud to be premiering “Too Late,” the latest single off Matador! Soul Sounds’ upcoming debut album, Get Ready (independently out March 12, 2018). Originally founded by Eddie Roberts (The New Mastersounds) and Alan Evans (Soulive), the full Matador! Soul Sounds band includes keyboardist Chris Spies, bassist Kevin Scott (Jimmy Herring), and vocalists Adryon de León and Kimberly Dawson (Pimps of Joytime). Currently scattered across various parts of the US, the fusion jazz/funk/soul act is “loosely based on the concept of Spanish bullfighting.” As bullfighting is a team effort led by a matador and his cuadrilla, so too is this band a team effort led by its bandleaders and their dynamic cuadrilla. “Too Late” finds the whole group going overtime in crafting a hard-hitting song that unleashes the band’s wilder side.

Kimberly Dawson leads vocals on “Too Late,” painting a passionate lament through an explosive, yet tempered vocal line. “This was originally an instrumental tune, but we decided to make a version with vocals when we were in the studio working on other tunes,” she recalls. “‘s such a great groove and it’s really fun to sing. We try to be honest with our music, and that includes the lyrics. Relationships aren’t always rainbows and sunshine, so delving into the other side just felt natural. I really love how this one turned out.”

Get Ready - Matador! Soul Sounds
Get Ready – Matador! Soul Sounds
Tell me is it too late
(didn’t mean to do you wrong, no)
Can I make you stay
Is it too late
To make you stay
Can’t afford to feel this way
Baby don’t lock me in your prison of shame
If you got something on your mind just say
Honey set me free

“Too Late” is the first promotional single off Matador! Soul Sounds’ new promotional campaign, #MatadorMondays – which will find the band unveiling a new song every Monday, as well as introducing a new member of the band as we inch closer to Get Ready‘s mid-March release date. Appropriately featured on this first week is powerhouse vocalist Kimberly Dawson: The Denver-based vocalist has established herself on the international funk scene, spending 3 years on the road with Brooklyn soul act Pimps of Joytime.

Matador! Soul Sounds' Kim Dawson poster
Introducing Kim Dawson

But you don’t need to know her history to appreciate the artistry: “Too Late” provides an inescapably intense display of talent. Dawson’s tight, well-executed lines play off keyboardist Chris Spies’ and bassist Kevin Scott’s riffs, capturing the band at their best in the heat of the moment.

“Too Late,” according to band co-leader Eddie Roberts, is a fantastic embodiment of Matador! Soul Sounds as a whole: “Kim Dawson is half of the female powerhouse that gives Matador! Soul Sounds its voice,” he says. “‘Too Late’ embodies so much of The Matador! sound with soul, jazz and funk all intertwined.”

Should this not be enough for you to pop in the headphones and give “Too Late” a listen, then please do it for Spies’ spectacular keyboard solo: Coming in around the half-way mark, Spies’ instrumental is a dazzling, high-energy expression of sweet soul and sheer muscle.

You just don’t find talent like this anymore – definitely not in such a tightknit group setting. Give Matador! Soul Sounds some time this Matador Monday, and stay tuned for more fire and fury from them in the weeks to come!

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:: Catch MSS on tour here! ::

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Get Ready - Matador Soul Sounds

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? © Ashley LaBlonde, Wide Eyed Studios

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