Review

Neil Pierce (Feat. Adeola Shyllon): Love Therapy (Soul Heaven)

Soul Heaven is a respected name synonymous with the soulful house scene. The Soul Heaven label has been around for years and still has a really high output of good quality, soulful dance music.

Label A&R manager is London DJ and producer, Neil Pierce. Neil’s a very good friend of mine so if this track was lacking, it would be hard for me to write an objective review. Thankfully though, it’s not lacking but more rocking!

The title of the song is Love Therapy featuring the silky vocals of Adeola Shyllon (formerly Adeola Ranson). To be honest, I don’t know enough about Ms. Shyllon to write anything about her, but I will definitely be listening to more material featuring her voice as it really is smoother than a bar of Galaxy!

The pack comes with 6 mixes (with remixes courtesy of Karizma, Sy Sez, Mark Stone & Terry Lee and Ziggy Love) but my favourite mix by far is Neil Pierce’s. We start off in the usual fashion, a pretty straight forward boom-tish 4/4 beat but then from nowhere, beautifully filtered keys hit you in the forehead, oof! It reminds me of the sound from a Juno or Moog, which holds a trusted place in my heart and is akin to the introduction of "I Believe in Miracles."

The mix then builds as you would expect, with more chord progressions and a sumptuous bassline making their entrance’s, before the final act of Adeola’s glorious vocal takes centre stage. This track flows; I mean it really, really flows. The chorus "Love therapy will lead you to a brighter day" is unbelievably catchy. I’m singing it as I’m typing this review! Neil has done an amazing job on this track, and I say that as an objective reviewer, a lover of real house music and not just as a friend of Mr Pierce.

A mention must also go to the mix courtesy of Sy Sez. This is from a totally different angle being much more of a dub, but in the guise of a deep(ish) afro(ish) house workout. This mix is all about the percussion for me, although that’s not taking anything away from the rest of the programming, as it really is a tasty slice of good quality house music. I would love to hear this on a Funktion One system at 4am in a dark, sweaty club…oh yes!

This is Neil’s third solo release of the year so I think it’s fair to say the man is on a roll.

I am really feeling this package and trust me, it won’t be long before you find yourself singing “Love therapy will lead you to a brighter day” just as I still am. Brilliant track.
Words GARETH MORGAN