In This Life Together

• Artist: Kindred the Family Soul
• Rating:
• Release Date: September 20, 2005
• Type: Lyrics are included with the album
• Genre: Rhythm & Blues

Review

The Ashford & Simpson of neo-soul, Fatin Dantzler and Aja Graydon, aka Kindred the Family Soul, continue their ongoing autobiography in song with their second album, In This Life Together, its title borrowed from a dual memoir by the husband-and-wife acting and activist team of Ruby Dee and the late Ossie Davis, who is quoted and name-checked in "The Quote (Interlude)." Typical of neo-soul recordings, the music, provided by a succession of multi-instrumentalist composer/producers (Yameen, Dinky Bingham, Boy Genius, Kristin Price, Chuck Treece, Easy Mo Be, Elise Perry, Anthony Bell, etc.), is mid-tempo, synthesizer-and-drum-programming-driven approximations of 1970s soul in the manner of Marvin Gaye and Sly & the Family Stone, tricked out with contemporary hip-hop elements, including a couple of unnecessary guest raps. Over the tracks, Dantzler and Graydon improvise singsong melodies and intone repetitive hooks, but what really matters is not the music, it's the message. The couple are unabashedly autobiographical; you can't get through the first real song, "Thru Love," without knowing how many children they have and what their sexes are (a son and two daughters), and by the final track, "Bed Time Story," you're being informed, "Aquil has started a new school, and oooh he's doing well." Such details, however, only serve to make their material universal. In contrast to most urban music (and most pop music in general), the subjects here do not concern new love or love gone wrong, they are about the love continuing in a real, committed relationship, that of a contemporary, working-class African-American couple. That love faces many challenges -- the word "stress" turns up in no less than four songs (post-traumatic on one occasion), and "pressure" and "struggle" are repeated, too. Even in a mutual love song like "Thru Love," the singers pause to ask, "Still, who says it's gonna last forever?" But this is more than just couples therapy set to music. "Sneak a Freak" addresses the possibilities of intimacy sandwiched in between all of life's responsibilities; "Woman First" is Graydon's reflection on how her husband's love helps her get through daily strife ("Ever since I had the babies, I just don't feel the same"); and "Message to Marvin" is an update on Gaye's "What's Going On," with the chorus, "What the hell is going on?" There are also songs of faith ("As of Yet") and reflections on parents ("Struggle No More," which oddly contains a verse contributed and sung by India.Arie that is a complete non sequitur). In other words, the collection presents a full-scale portrait of life for a loving, struggling, contemporary couple with three kids trying to keep things together, a life not that different from most people's. That is actually a refreshing perspective to find expressed in popular music, and one a wide audience should be able to identify with. ~ William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide

Tracks

Track Title	Composers	Performers	Time
It's Kindred (Intro)	Fatin Dantzler, Aja Graydon, J.J. Nix	Kindred the Family Soul	(1:04)
Thru Love	Fatin Dantzler, Aja Graydon, T.K. Carter	Kindred the Family Soul	(4:03)
Turn It Up	Aja Graydon, Fatin Dantzler	Kindred the Family Soul, Archie Eversoul	(3:12)
Do You Remember		Kindred the Family Soul	(4:08)
Where Would I Be (The Question)	Aja Graydon, Fatin Dantzler	Kindred the Family Soul	(4:46)
Woman First	Fatin Dantzler, Aja Graydon, R. David Tucker	Kindred the Family Soul	(4:05)
Let It All Go	Fatin Dantzler, Aja Graydon	Kindred the Family Soul	(4:08)
Sneak a Freak	Aja Graydon, Fatin Dantzler	Kindred the Family Soul	(3:44)
Message to Marvin	Aja Graydon, Fatin Dantzler, M. Lewis	Kindred the Family Soul, The Last Donna	(3:44)
The Quote (Interlude)	Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee	Kindred the Family Soul	(:26)
As of Yet	Fatin Dantzler, Aja Graydon	Kindred the Family Soul	(3:19)
Aja's Mom (Interlude)		Kindred the Family Soul	(:33)
Struggle No More	Aja Graydon, Fatin Dantzler	India.Arie, Kindred the Family Soul	(3:33)
Who's Gonna Comfort You (Definition)	Aja Graydon, Fatin Dantzler	Kindred the Family Soul	(3:32)
My Time	E.V. Perry, Aja Graydon, Fatin Dantzler	Kindred the Family Soul	(5:09)
In This Life Together	Fatin Dantzler, Anthony Bell, Aja Graydon	Kindred the Family Soul	(3:41)
Husband My Daddy (Interlude)	Aja Graydon, Fatin Dantzler	Kindred the Family Soul	(:16)
Bed Time Story	Fatin Dantzler, R. Tyson, Aja Graydon	Kindred the Family Soul	(4:18)

Credits

Tracy Carter (Producer), Larry Gold (String Arrangements), Conley Whitfield (Producer), Tracy Carter (Fender Rhodes), Conley Whitfield (Guitar), Chuck Treece (Keyboards), Archie Eversoul (Performer), Dylan Dresdow (Mixing), Aja Graydon (Vocals), Dinky Bingham (Bass), Jarrett Miles (Trumpet), Chuck Treece (Bass), Dinky Bingham (Vocals (Background)), Tracy Carter (Multi Instruments), Jill Scott (Shouts), Chuck Treece (Guitar), Radji Mateen (Vocals (Background)), Dinky Bingham (Drum Programming), Steve McKie (Drum Programming), James Poyser (Piano), Steve McKie (Producer), Kindred the Family Soul (Audio Production), Anthony Bell (Producer), Radji Mateen (Saxophone), Julian Brown (Drums), Steve McKeever (Executive Producer), Julian Brown (Producer), Whitney Thomas (Photography), Richard Tucker (Producer), Fatin Dantzler (Executive Producer), Aja Graydon (Executive Producer), Conley Whitfield (Bass), Dinky Bingham (Keyboards), Jermaine Miles (Trombone), Daud Elbakara (Trumpet), Adam Blackstone (Bass), Dave Pensado (Mixing), Richard Tucker (Guitar), Dinky Bingham (Producer), Anthony Bell (Audio Production), India.Arie (Vocals), Leterance Thatch (A&R), Fatin Dantzler (Vocals), Chuck Treece (Producer), Dinky Bingham (Vocal Producer), Richard Furch (Digital Editing), Dinky Bingham (Multi Instruments), Grecco Buratto (Guitar), Chuck Treece (Drums), Tracy Carter (Organ), Dinky Bingham (Engineer), Anthony Bell (Multi Instruments), Dinky Bingham (Mixing)