How You Like Me Now? by The Heavy ---Neo Soul Continues to Break Through

The Heavy

  

The House That Dirt Built by The Heavy

Granted, I'm a little slow on the uptake. But now, can't get it out of my head. I've been a bit busy but still the tune in the Kia ad  that debuted at the Super Bowl , and percolates around the web is everywhere, engrained in my consciousness. It  punches through the rock  n funk and soul wall, like high explosive, right to the core. A new classic, "How You Like Me Now?" by the British group The Heavy. The core of the group, guitarist Dan Taylor and vocalist Kelvin Swaby, became friends in 1990 when they bonded over vintage R&B and Jim Jarmusch films.The band also includes drummer Chris Ellul, bassist Spencer Page, and keyboardist Hannah Collins. Their newest release is "The House That Dirt Built"

A couple of months back, the group appeared on David Letterman featuring the Dap Kings' horn section and blew the roof off of the place. Swaby's vocals and the groups' hard-charging rhythm had the obvious effect, so much so that Letterman invited the band to continue the song in an unprecedented encore at the end of the show. If you want to see The Heavy in action, check out the Letterman video plus the encore (which includes Swaby's call and response with Paul Shaeffer and David Letterman. Viewing it, post-Leno and post-Conan, made me really glad that Letterman remains part of the Late Night mix. Maybe his recent brush with celebrity ignominy gave him a real feeling for soul and the blues. Who knows. But, anyway,  happily for us, Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings, Amy Winehouse, and now The Heavy, British and American soul worlds collide in some powerful new music. You've gotta see this lengthy clip if you haven't caught it already.  It will get you in a powerful groove. Also, check out   the band's website

Plus here is an MTV blog and Q&A on the band's recording session, where else, in Brooklyn, in Bushwick's Vibromonk Studio

Visions of the Insidious Commercial