By D-Money for Soulbounce
It’s been a while since we heard the name Lizz Wright, but the singer has been quite busy. In recent years, she’s started her own record label Blues & Greens Records — the purpose of which is to help artists build careers outside of the current mainstream framework that will be more beneficial to them in the long term. She’s also released music through the label, including her upcoming project Shadow. To introduce us to that forthcoming work, the singer has released the set’s lead single “Sweet Feeling.”
“Sweet Feeling” is a cover of Candi Staton’s soulful 1969 track. Lizz’s take keeps some of the rhythm, but its primary focus is on the blues. Twangy guitar and a slow, deliberate drumbeat set the stage while churchy organ fills in the rest. It all sets the scene for Lizz to dig into her bag and deliver a powerful, down-home vocal as she takes on the persona of a woman trying to win back her love.
She tells the story of their love with conviction, the rich rasp of her voice outlining the song’s longing. “You picked me up / When nobody else could / You done things for me, oh darlin’ / That nobody else would / Oh yes, you did,” she sings. “Gave me your heart / But I couldn’t be true / Yet I still got the
same sweet feeling for you.”
For the song’s video, she takes us to Chicago for a performance in the city’s Green Mill jazz club. The performance is captured both through a modern lens and a grainy filter, showing the song’s roots in the past and the firm hold it also has in the present. It’s a perfect representation of a singer like Lizz, who can sincerely evoke the sound of yesteryear and breathe life into it in the here and now.
While “Sweet Feeling” is just a taste of what Lizz Wright has to offer us, we’re going to have to wait a while to hear Shadow in full. The album isn’t set to be released until April 2024. Thankfully, “Sweet Feeling” is the kind of song that sticks with you for a while. Stream the single when you press play below, then stick around to watch Lizz and her band in the song’s music video.