Amia Franz is an American Born, Alternative Neo-Soul, R&B, Funk, Soft Rock, Blues Singer/Songstress. Amia also writes her songs, produces and co-produces her music as well as plays the guitar. Currently she is signed to Diamond Life Records owned by founder drummer of the band Sade, Paul Cooke. Paul is also the executive producer of her album release “Songs Of The Soul”. “I will not follow mainstream music. I’m taking it back to when music made you want to just groove. I’m going do what feels good to me!”

That may or may not have been Amia Franz thinking when she did this album. I don’t know, but the fact of the matter is she’s done a great job on this album. “Songs Of The Soul” makes you want to get up and move on some tracks and on others, Amia just does what she does best; sing from her soul. She shows swag, sexiness, soul, and at times, her jazzy-side throws in a bluesy croon here-and-there, just to meet her pop edge halfway.

For those who can grasp that, check out the album. That is the feeling I got on just about every song on “Songs Of The Soul”. She seems to be keeping the movement of that old-school, classic flavor, yet it bubbles with cutting edge electro-pop elements.

It is something that you do not hear in most of today’s Soul or R&B music. I’m not trying to take anything away from new artists, but it seems they feel forced to do too much gimmickry in current music, in order to stay relevant. Good music is good music, don’t mess it up.

That’s what Amia and producer Paul Cooke have achieved here. Sometimes it’s good to just keep the groove simple. From beginning to end, Cook packs the album with sophistication, sex appeal and soul, plus a retro-futuristic sound.

Catch the alternative funky rhythms on “Deep Love”, or the cutting edge pop of “Ecstasy” and “Wait Mariah”. My favorite song, penned by Amia, is the ballad “Your Kiss Is Blind”. Not only does it showcase her extraordinary songwriting abilities, but it displays all the nuances of her smooth vocal timbre.

Amia Franz also confirms her self-confidence by covering Chaka Khan’s “Ain’t Nobody”, as well as a track called “Spooky”. All-round “Songs Of The Soul” is a strong album that plays to Amia’s strengths as an artist, as she experiments with new sounds within a retro throwback feeling.

Amia obviously works hard when she needs to and this hard work is evident on this album. It is track after track of pure soulful bliss and without a doubt an album that will be played many times over. “Songs Of The Soul” hits all the right spots for those connoisseurs out there. It has bounce, is funky when it needs to be and soulful just at the right time. This could be her best work to date, but you would need to judge that for yourselves.

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