Eric Gadd

Photo courtesy of Michael A. Lowry.

I'll be honest, it's been hard to get it together in this heat. They're used to it down in LA but up here we like our fog and our wind. Reading has been out of the question as it was too hot to concentrate on anything. I could barely summon the strength to press play on the iPod.

Perhaps I exaggerate a bit on that last point. I've been listening to a lot of Swedish soul singer Eric Gadd, who has apparently been making great records for nearly 20 years. True to form, I first heard of him last year. But I was hooked right away- terrific voice and music that is an impossible-to-sit-still blend of soul/funk/pop. To the best of my understanding (my Swedish being a little rusty) Gadd writes, composes and arranges all his own songs. This makes for a record that hangs together as well as anything put out by my favorite indie singer-songwriters.

I really like the single Meet Me Here and I hope you can get past the initial Believe-era-Cher tinged production because I think it's a good song. And one of my favorite tracks is No Doubt About It, which you can listen to over at Last.fm.

These two come from his self-titled album, which can be purchased on iTunes.