Finally arrived in my mailbox the new CD from Diane Catherine Sealy better known as Dee C. Lee, British Soul, R&B and Pop singer, born in Balham, South London, England, UK (we share the same birthdate).
Dee C. Lee was a backing singer for Wham!, and then became a member of The Style Council, as well as also performing as a solo artist. Lee was married to her fellow Style Council member, band founder Paul Weller from 1987 until their divorce in 1998. They have two children, daughter Leah Weller, and son Nathaniel (Natt Weller).
Dee C. Lee's new CD/LP "Just Something" is well worth buying, not a bad track on the album. "Just Something" is her first new record since 1998, and her debut for Acid Jazz. It features 11 songs: nine originals co-written by Dee, a song penned by her daughter Leah Weller, a successful singer/songwriter in her own right, and two inspired covers. Produced by Sir Tristan Longworth, the album is a soulful collection that frames her instantly recognisable vocals in luxurious horns, percussion and keys, and heritage soul with a disco backdrop. While making the record has been a collaborative process, "Just Something" is nevertheless the sound of a singer in charge of her own style and direction. Her vocal delivery and phrasing steal the show throughout, bright and lilting one moment, passionate and ringing the next. She cites Chaka Khan and Jean Carn as major influences, but Lee’s voice is resolutely her own, the product of a life lived.
Inspired by classic Motown, current single "Walk Away’"was written by Dee with one of her ‘brothers from another mother’, former fellow Style Council member Mick Talbot, and features Talbot’s distinctive piano and Wulitzer playing on the track. Talbot also plays on another of the album’s many standouts, the Leah Weller-penned "Everyday Summer".
Three of the album’s songs, opener "Back In Time", first single "Don’t Forget About Love" and "How To Love" were co-written with Michael McEvoy and Ernest McKone, whom Dee wrote with back in the 1980s. All three songs channel her musical past, from the thrill and excitement of those early Wham! days, going out and partying, to The Style Council’s trademark jazzy soul, and expressive balladry and killer choruses, which places Lee in the lineage of classic soul singers.
Elsewhere, on "Anything", co-written with Paul Barry, Dee sings her heart out on a song full of optimism and hope for the future, while "For Once In My Life", the oldest song here dates back to 1998, is effortlessly commercial and has hit written all over it, with Lee empowered and regal sounding over a warm blanket of bassy funk.
The album’s two covers, meanwhile, were both suggested to Lee by Acid Jazz’s Eddie Piller. In Lee’s hands, Renee Geyer’s "Be There In The Morning" is pure celebration, taking its cue from the Norman Connors version from 1979. "I Love You", written by Don Blackman and recorded by Weldon Irvine in 1976, could have been written with Lee in mind. A big club tune, Dee recalls hearing it everywhere she went and I wanted to keep as close to the original vibe as she could.
Go get your copy today!
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