By Carmel Horgan
Following his first LP Age Don’t Mean a Thing, released last year, Robert Finley is set to release a new album titled Goin’ Platinum produced by ‘The Black Keys’ frontman Dan Auerbach on December 8. Although finding success late in life, Finley certainly proves that “age don’t mean a thing” with one of his newest songs from the Goin’ Platinum album, ‘Medicine Woman’.
‘Medicine Woman’ has the traditional blues sound associated with Finley, but with a contemporary twist. Its opening has a playful, repetitive melody that alone would be stuck in your head. This contrasts nicely with the rhythmic drums and the pulse of the bass guitar. However, when Finley starts singing, his voice is definitely the main attraction of the song. Throughout the song, you can really hear him giving it his all, singing with pure emotion, pleading with this woman in a mixture of zealous and mellow tones.
Complimenting this is an eclectic selection of instruments from the ever-soulful saxophone to the drop-like xylophone.
As Dan Auerbach is the producer of the album it makes sense to hear a similar sound from ‘Medicine Woman’ to songs performed with Auerbach’s band ‘The Black Keys’ but don’t expect this of all of the music on Goin’ Platinum! Official audio of another song from Finley’s upcoming album has been released. It is called “Get It While You Can”, and has a completely different sound. Having a heavily musical background, varying in experiences including the Army and the Music Relief Foundation, Finley is perfectly capable of adapting to different styles and bringing his own twist. As described by Auerbach in an interview,
“…you could set him in front of an orchestra and he would sing just as good…”
