Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings: If You Call
While staying true to the Dap King’s yearning for old soul, the concept video for “If You Call” digs even deeper into melancholic blues. Move over BB King.
Sharon Jones has one of those voices that digs deep into the comforts of the American spiritual and the aching sorrow of the Depression blues. If you didn’t gather your facts, you would think that her voice – attached to the Dap Kings’ ’60’s arrangements and those under-two-minute song limits – was something you missed when dusting off your mother’s 45 rpm records. On “If You Call,” taken from Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings’ new album I Learned The Hard Way, Jones stands alone in her lonely abode awaiting for her lover’s returning phone call. She looks at the vintage alarm clock on the end table, but most of the time she’s too busy wandering off in a daze. The concept video is pretty simple: black-and-white imagery and the occasional playfulness of the hues.
One of the video’s stark revelations takes place when Jones pulls out a butcher knife from her purse and expects it as if she’s going to end her life. She decides to put it back in the bag; saving it probably for yet another rainy day. The soulful rhythms might be ol’ skool, but the message – reborn by recent pop hits about sour relationships (i.e., “Love the Way You Lie,” “Misery”) – hits home with a profound urgency.
J MATTHEW COBB
