Review: Galactic and Irma Thomas ‘Audience With the Queen’

Review: Galactic and Irma Thomas ‘Audience With the Queen’

By Hal Horowitz

If there were any doubts about the 83 year old New Orleans’ soul queen’s voice being as powerful, potent and persuasive as in her younger days, they will immediately be squashed after pushing play on the fittingly titled ‘Audience With the Queen.’

Thomas lets loose on a cover of Nancy Wilson’s hit “How Glad I Am” with a gospel fervor and vocal control impressive from someone half her age. Backing singers punctuate the chorus with call and response fervor, the band lays back, and Thomas kills it on this disc’s lone cover.

Crescent City music fans know that Galactic has been, for the past 30 years, one of the city’s most recognizable and talented young outfits. They combine blues, jazz and whatever that funk is New Orleans musicians liberally sprinkle over everything, add occasional guest vocalists, and keep their city’s joyous, jubilant music alive. Irma Thomas is one of the city’s consummate and iconic veterans;a GRAMMY award winning singer dating back to her first hit in 1959. She has released 18 albums.

The combination was initially established in 2010 when Thomas guested on Galactic’s song “Heart of Steel.” Then, in 2022, the group planned to release a new Thomas album on their label. After looking for a band to back her, they decided to do it themselves. It took three years of on and off sessions but these nine tracks show just how inspired and invigorated this pairing was.

Galactic wrote eight new songs for Thomas, most with resilient socio-political currents running underneath their funk and soul topsoil. The euphoric “Where I Belong” expresses her lifelong dedication to song as she exuberantly exclaims “I guess I’m right where I belong/Still doing my thing, singing my song/
I still got a love affair with the sound of music in the air” while Galactic’s horns swing with energized enthusiasm. That theme permeates these songs as Thomas’ expressive, husky voice and sheer pleasure in singing explodes from the grooves.

The adjective “infectious” is an overused cliché for describing music, but it applies here. It’s impossible to hear Thomas and Galactic hitting their groove and not be mesmerized in the absolute delight these musicians exude.

Even when lyrics get weighty as in “Lady Liberty” where Thomas sings “Is this the world that we’re living in?/The one we raise our children in/Lord save us all, Lady Liberty took a fall,” the fizzy funk keeps the mood upbeat, vibrant and even cheerful. On the chugging “People,” Thomas explains “I’ve been on both sides of a broken law/I’ve felt the pain and learned how to let it go” with the horns blasting out and a rhythm that combines, rock, soul and funk. It just burns.

For “Peace in My Heart,” bubbling percussion injects thumping, wired beats giving way to Irma’s authoritative, soulful voice. The brass sprinkles their sound leaving room for Thomas to explore words attempting to keep others’ emotions in check with “No matter what comes your way/You gotta find some peace in your heart today.”

Like the recent Kenny Wayne Shepherd and Bobby Rush collaboration, this is another generational arrangement where both parties, separated by age, up their game, each inspiring the other.

Thomas’ timeless performance is revelatory and Galactic provides the musical oomph, making the spirited ‘Audience With the Queen’ a new highpoint in both of their extensive catalogs.

“Where I Belong”

 
Pre-order the album HERE