Inside Voice (2018)

by Joey Dosik

On his full-length debut, Inside Voice, singer and songwriter Joey Dosik reveals an unabashed fondness for '60s and '70s pop-soul and the songwriting of Carole King. With musicianship that's up to the task, the also-producer, keyboardist, and woodwind player is joined on the album by such notable performers as neo-soul singer Moses Sumney, electronic soul specialist Mocky, and members of the virtuosic R&B/funk combo Vulfpeck, a group Dosik was already well associated with coming into the album. String performances and ... Read More

On his full-length debut, Inside Voice, singer and songwriter Joey Dosik reveals an unabashed fondness for '60s and '70s pop-soul and the songwriting of Carole King. With musicianship that's up to the task, the also-producer, keyboardist, and woodwind player is joined on the album by such notable performers as neo-soul singer Moses Sumney, electronic soul specialist Mocky, and members of the virtuosic R&B/funk combo Vulfpeck, a group Dosik was already well associated with coming into the album. String performances and arrangements were covered by Miguel Atwood-Ferguson, who has done the same for Sumney, Thundercat, and Mary J. Blige, just to name a few. Dosik is on record saying that King's "You've Got a Friend" and Bill Withers' "Lean on Me" inspired "Take Mine," a sweeping piano ballad with strings, mallet percussion, and a nimble rhythm section that captures the affectionate tone of the album as a whole. That characteristic is helped along by the singer's smooth, warm-hearted vocal quality, one that sounds like he means it when he promises "I will treat you well" on the album's one cover, "Stories," a deep cut by Withers. Dosik's version leaves behind the impressionistic piano and harp, trading them for simple drums and rhythmic clapping under a gospel-inspired, densely harmonized a cappella that conveys the spirit of the lyrics at least as well as the original, if not as elegantly. On that point, everything here is done tastefully and expressively, from the seductive "Inside Voice" ("Won't you come a little nearer/'Cause you'd hear it so much clearer") to "Don't Want It to Be Over," a lively duet with Coco O. that recalls Marvin Gaye's duets with Kim Weston and Tammi Terrell. Underneath all the execution, the songs are good, too. While Dosik's collaborative career path, which has spanned jazz, Afro-beat, electropop, and funk bands, leaves the distinct possibility that he could take a sharp left turn on future releases if he wants to, he's found a sweet spot here with a gentle soul for gentle souls. ~ Marcy Donelson, Rovi Read Less