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It might be time to add Melbourne as a soul music destination.

Ella Thompson is a singer-songwriter from the southwestern Australian city, releasing her third album, Triumph & Sadness. In the past, she has collaborated with longtime Melbourne funk icons The Bamboos, and came up in the same scene as the genre-fusing Hiatus Kaiyote.

Thompson, and the two instrumental bands she worked with, who are also at the center of Melbourne's soul scene - Karate Boogaloo and Surprise Chef - have put together an exceptional modern yet retro soul album.

"Promise to Keep" opens the album with a sweetly melancholic meditation on connections and the work it takes to maintain them. It's a theme that runs throughout the ten tracks.

The horns that march "Parable" forward are truly triumphant, echoing Thompson's soaring voice as she sings about what comes after hardships. There's no ifs, ands, or buts about it, she WILL see the sunshine after the rain.

Thompson worked with analog enthusiast engineer Wayne Gordon, known for his work with Daptone Records, most recently, The Womack Sisters. Their collective love for retro warmth stands out on "Make You Believe," a track whose main riff reminds me of the clean and minimal Booker T. & the M.G.s R&B sound.

Thompson mentions driving and listening to Mary Oliver's "The Waterfall" poem (note to self: listen to Mary Oliver while driving to keep blood pressure down), imagining herself as the falling water. The poet's influence is another theme that runs throughout Triumph & Sadness, both in the way her fragmented lyrics come together into a larger picture and the steady stream of imagery from the natural world.

We may be barreling towards winter here in Northern Minnesota, but in Australia summer's next up, so it's soul music and sunshine on this week's Album of the Week. -MK

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