A follow up to her 2003 debut called The Soul Sessions, volume 2 contains 11 more covers, 15 on the deluxe edition. “I Got The…” kicks the album off with the kind of funky soul expected from Joss. “While You’re Out Looking For Sugar”, which leaked last month, is a Motown-esque love tune about a man cheating on his girl. Even though the album is full of elements of psychedelic 60′s funk, other sounds are incorporated into the songs. “Side Way Shuffle” has a lounge feel while “Teardrops” sounds more current than previous tracks.
There’s not too much variation from track to track but “The Love We Had (Stays On My Mind)” contains gospel elements and the stand-out “The High Road” features strong backing vocals and a prominent electric guitar. The last track (on the standard edition), “Then You Can Tell Me Goodbye” is the most refreshing. It is a slow, mellow ballad where Stone croons slowly over an acoustic guitar. Bonus track “Once In My Lifetime” is a solid track that probably should replace one of the songs that made it onto the standard version.
The album is a collection is slow grooves and up-tempos. The whole record places the listener in an earlier period of music and gives the newer generation a greater appreciation of how popular music evolved to it’s current form.