Archive

Who is this Tangela Bell?

Revolutions, the first CD to be released by Music With a Twist, Columbia Records’ LGBT label, will be available in stores next Tuesday (it’s been available via iTunes since April 24), and I got a review copy the other day in the mail. Compilation CDs aren’t usually all that exciting, and this one isn’t the hottest thing I’ve ever heard, but it’s not bad.

It includes tracks from The Gossip (“Standing in the Way of Control”), Sarah Bettens (“Come Over Here”), God-des and She (“Love You Better”), Kirsten Price (“Magic Tree,” a song that was also on the L Word Season 4 soundtrack) and newcomer Tangela Bell.

These are all fine songs (although I wish Price would hurry up and release her debut album already!), but I was pretty much blown away by Tangela Bell’s song “Addiction.” Bell’s voice is incredible; it just demands that you sit there and listen. She’s like a soul singer who’s gone on some kind of rampage! The song is about, obviously, addiction, and it’s like the devil went to a 12-step program and put together an awesome single.

In a 2004 press release (that bad machine helpfully found for me) from the National Association of People with AIDS, Bell is identified as an “HIV-positive singer has performed with the likes of B. B. King and Bobbie ‘Blues’ Bland,” and counts Jill Scott and India.Arie as two of her inspirations. You can listen to more of Bell on her MySpace page, but oddly, “Addiction” is not on it. (Note to Bell: Put “Addiction” on your MySpace page, stat!)

Can I tell you how long I’ve been waiting for an openly lesbian soul singer with the songwriting chops of Jill Scott? Too long, I tell you! Here’s hoping that Music With a Twist has signed Bell and will putting out her album ASAP.

Lesbian Apparel and Accessories Gay All Day sweatshirt -- AE exclusive

Related Articles

Leave a Reply

Back to top button