Quinn DeVeaux has been a quiet fixture it the Bay Area music scene for the last decade, performing his solo brand of “blue beat soul” while also lending his talents to other beloved groups like the California Honeydrops. All of it pulls from quintessential American genres—blues, R&B, soul and a little bit of country.
Released by Kentucky label SofaBurn, his new album Leisure is handily making it into my best of the year. Vibrant and stirring, the album is classic Quinn, with an exciting pivot in production: It’s got a richer, wall-of-sound style that his other releases typically don’t, and it carries lots of blues and soul hallmarks without being by-the-book. Songs like opener “Very Best Thing” and closer “Holy” both make for a feel-good time with fill-you-up horn sections and organ riffs, but the mournful tone of “Give Love a Try” and unexpectedly sparse production on “I Wanna Know” won’t let you forget the diverse and adventurous musical legacy he has built in the Bay. There’s so much energy packed into this record it almost feels like you are seeing it live.
