The New Respects - "Before the Sun Goes Down"

In honor of Black History Month all the posts for this month will feature artists of color.

They’ve got the fresh bright sounds that just makes you crack a smile when you hear it. Bursting with hope and potential they bring their eclectic roots together to makes majestic new wave - old soul sound, and it’s awesome.

The Fitzgerald siblings — Darius and twins Alexandria and Alexis — and their cousin Jasmine Mullen realized as teenagers that there was really no established template for the band they wanted to be: a coed quartet of Tennessee-bred, African-American kids initially playing a variation on folk-rock. Their response was to keep at it, experimenting with whatever styles struck their fancy at the moment and sifting through the influences they'd absorbed from their upbringings. (Mullen's mom, Nicole C. Mullen, rose to contemporary Christian popularity in the early '00s as a singer and songwriter of inspirational ballads and, as homeschooled preacher's kids, the Fitzgeralds were steered toward modern gospel and Motown.) Now in their early 20s, they're releasing their bright-eyed take on throwback rock 'n' roll, peppered with blues and soul references and calibrated for maximum pop effect, under the moniker The New Respects.

So today, with toes tapping and smiles cracking, I choose The New Respect’s “Before The Sun Goes Down'“ as my, give it a chance, make your own taste, find your own style, song for a, like a good cocktail that gets better the longer you drink it, savory in unexpected ways, sweet to the taste, Monday.

I’m also giving you one of their earlier songs “Trouble” because it’s gritty and gripping!