Joel Sarakula gives his soulful new full-length a ‘Soft Focus’
Australia-born but UK-based musician Joel Sarakula’s brand new album Soft Focus is a mid-career album spanning his many influences and genres including soft-rock, funk, AOR, soulful disco and indie pop, all brought together under the umbrella of his gentle gaze and a ‘soft’ aesthetic.
Soft Focus is also the name of a photographic technique born out of a spherical aberration of the lens where the image is a bit blurry and undefined: it’s both flattering and forgiving on the subject. It’s an apt title. As a lifetime wearer of (vintage) glasses, Sarakula knows a lot about spherical aberrations. Perhaps he produced these songs with his glasses off as these are abstract and warm vignettes, never overstaying their welcome and for this reason Sarakula manages to feature 12 tracks.
The album includes two Shawn Lee-produced tracks: “I’ll Get By Without You“, a blend of disco and west coast soul, and “Telephone Calls”, a relaxed number infused with 80s pop vibes. Other highlights include the latin rock of “King Of Spain“, the soulful affirmation of “Back For Your Love” and the psychedelic-tinged “Bird Of Paradise” and “Microdosing”.
Soft Focus is a well-polished, lovingly crafted album, and it feels like the culmination of Sarakula‘s adventures in soulful soft-rock and his defining statement in the genre. While comparisons will be made with contemporary projects like Shawn Lee‘s Young Gun Silver Fox, Drugdealer, Benny Sings and Prep, echoes of soft-rock icons Ned Doheny, Boz Scaggs, Todd Rundgren and Michael Franks also ripple gently through the album.
‘Soft Focus’ out on LP / CD / digitally on Nov. 8th 2024 via Légère Recordings
