Whereas Simone Felice and his brothers tapped into one of the richest veins of America’s folk tradition on their last three albums; for his debut with new band The Duke & The King, Simone and old friend and new partner Robert Chicken Burke together now combine elements of blue-eyed soul, Topanga Canyon and even Bolan-esque inspired acoustic musings.
Their first album “Nothing Gold Can Stay” was recorded in splendid isolation in a makeshift studio in Bearsville, New York State then taken down The Hudson to be mixed and mastered by Grammy award winning hip-hop maestro Bassy Bob Brockmann (Notorious B.I.G’s Ready To Die). It’s an album that is populated by those on the brink of fame and fortune, those just getting by and those who have lost their way. Inspired by the sights and sounds that surrounded them both as they grew up in New York City, from The Summer Of Sam and the beat box’s bass heavy boom to BB guns shooting Challenger from the sky - and by the flip side of the not-so-great American dream - boyhood friends turned scarred veterans. The Duke And The King’s debut album celebrates adolescence’s not so innocent times while grudgingly accepting the occasionally harsh reality of the streets of a city that they both grew up on.| |
