Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings - Soul of a Woman

The Guardian 80

(Daptone)
The late-blooming soul star’s posthumous album is righteous, dramatic and rooted in the past

It is tempting to overpraise the recently departed. But the late – and, arguably, great – Sharon Jones was not discovered via a TV talent show or hothoused at a fame school. Her voice clawed its way out of obscurity through sheer force of will.

Before she had a late-life recording career, Jones sang in church and worked in jobs that risked life and limb – as an armoured van guard and as a prison officer at the notorious Rikers Island. It was only at the age of 40 that the erstwhile wedding singer began paying in serious cheques in exchange for belting out songs of love, woe and overcoming.

The first half of Soul of a Woman skews hard towards upbeat songs

Related: Sharon Jones obituary