FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: CONTACT: funkstlevel@yahoo.com STREET LEVEL DEBUT ALBUM HONORS SOUL MUSIC’S PAST BUT COMES UP WITH UNMISTAKABLY MODERN SOUND. VIBRANT ALBUM PUSHES INTO 21st CENTURY, OFFERS A DOZEN AIRPLAY-WORTHY SONGS FULL OF GROOVE, HOOKS, AND, ABOVE ALL, LIFE. While it’s too bold to say that Alan Murphy and his band Street Level are going to make the airwaves safe again for music with real soul, Murphy and the band certainly are doing their part. In the best spirit of artists like Prince and Meshell N’dgeocello who honor the history behind their music yet stay true to themselves and continue to take listeners to new places, Street Level recaptures the most vibrant aspects of soulful music from previous decades but avoids getting stuck imitating the past. Sure, Murphy does without a doubt look back to the days when rich, textured (and, most of all, sincere) music dominated the pop/soul/R&B airwaves, but Street Level is no retro act. Murphy -- a songwriter, frontman, singer, keyboard player, trombonist, guitarist, producer, arranger, recording/mixing engineer, and bandleader -- forges a sound all his own. The range he exhibits throughout Street Level’s expansively varied self-titled debut makes it abundantly clear that Murphy’s is a restless muse with little interest in staying in mothballs and hovering around other musicians’ accomplishments without making a mark of its own. One listen through the album and you see how Murphy’s eyes, ears, hands, and feet are pointed squarely at the future. And he’ll bring listeners along with him on a marvelous ride -- he not only has soul flowing freely in his blood but a seemingly endless supply of hooks in him as well. Street Level’s debut positively brims with catchy, hummable tunes that stick to your memory and soundtrack your new ones. In fact, this music is like a soundtrack for every day living. Few lyricists have the innate knack for rendering poetry out of day-to-day life that Murphy does. Street Level covers all the bases, and the moods Murphy paints reveal themselves easily, speaking to everyone, alienating no one: Street Level’s debut offers playful whimsy (“Getting Higher”), heady reflection (“Rain, Rain”), sassy joie de vivre (“Get the Grip”), caution (“Just Like Everybody Else”), absurdist humor (“Mr. Cheese”), barbed sarcasm (“Cool”), romantic resolve (“No Martyr”), a call for racial harmony (“Black Man/White Man”), and a gripping statement of determination to carry on living (“Faith”). Yes, Murphy crafts fine lyrics that have “anthem” written all over them. But he does more than that. He makes music that is nothing short of life-sustaining. Just like the best music with this thing called “soul” is supposed to be. Because “soul” means life. And the best artists know that if you’re going to get people to shake their butts (of course, Street Level shakes butts and shakes them well) you have to ask yourself what it is that you’re giving them to shake their butts with. Murphy’s music might be funky as hell but it doesn’t stay on the dancefloor. It stays in your system long after the party’s over. When the mood has changed and it’s back to the grind and you might be feeling all alone in this world once again, Street Level’s music will still be there at your side as a comforting (and thought-provoking) presence. And, with a whopping 12 out of 12 songs that could be singles right out of the gate -- this is music that could easily reach out to the masses yet also retain its strong sense of integrity. Bob Dylan once said that the purpose of art is not to reflect life but to transcend it. Murphy’s songwriting does both, in an accessible way that captures the everyday-ness of everyday feelings but frames them in a profound beauty which is made even more profound because it is steeped in tradition -- you’ll hear traces of Curtis Mayfield, P-Funk, Sly & The Family Stone, the Meters, Earth Wind & Fire, Kool & the Gang, Ohio Players, the O’Jays, James Brown, and many more -- but you’ll also hear the sound of soulful music staying alive. Of the future being born in the present tense, right before your very ears. Not to mention drumming with jaw-dropping chops and irresistible groove, intricate horn arrangements that crackle with energy, top-notch execution from the rest of the soul-fluent players, and even touches of gospel. Street Level will put some soul in your jelly roll and leave you inspired until your a** is tired. And remind you of how great -- and mysterious and difficult and, in the end, still great -- it is to be alive. Dig it. There’s no time like now. -- Saby Reyes-Kulkarni, music writer, www.whoneedscritics.com