So once you surrender to love, what happens next?
In response to that question Kindred The Family Soul gets down to the heart of the matter with their sophomore release In This Life Together, on the Hidden Beach Recordings label.
“There is more to a relationship than just the hook-up and the break-up,” says Aja Graydon whose vocal interplay with husband Fatin Dantzler is a key component of Kindred’s unique sound. “Most R&B songs are either about ‘I just met you and I’m falling in love or I’m done with you and what the hell happened to us?’”
“But there’s nothing in between,” chimes in Dantzler. “No room to talk about things outside of lustful love, the temptations and the profundity of love. There’s also the beauty of relationships and what they can bring about and what emerges from them.”
In following up their critically-acclaimed 2003 Hidden Beach Recordings debut Surrender to Love, Graydon and Dantzler were inspired by the collaborative relationship and marriage of another powerful couple, actors/activists Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee. Before Davis’ death earlier this year, the celebrated pair successfully balanced work and love for more than 50 years. Their marriage and working relationship was chronicled in their dual autobiography, In This Life Together, which also serves as the title of Kindred’s latest release.
“We’re enamored of the relationship Davis and Dee created together, and everything they were able to accomplish,” says Dantzler. “Seeing these shining examples is the only way to let people truly know you can get to a place like that. We wanted to shed light on the black family and relationships in general.”
Adds Graydon, “There’s no music that represents that kind of strong, committed couple relationship. It’s not about having a handbook or being experts; but more so about a
free exchange of ideas – being open, talking and relating to one another honestly. This was our goal with this new album – to explore the relationship between couples who are truly friends, and share this with our fans.”
Building on the sentiments touched on by its predecessor, IN THIS LIFE TOGETHER is a more intimate and candid look at what happens when life intrudes on love. Grown and sexy is one thing; juggling work, our personal lives, and additional obligations is quite another. Sharing the wisdom gleaned from being married for seven years and with three young children, Kindred is crafting its own contemporary, urban love story for the 21st Century, one that many couples will relate to.
“When we made our first record, we were still honeymooning in a lot of ways,” says Graydon. “It was ‘la-di-da, everything is wonderful. We’re in love, hurrah for us.’ But now with our new album, In This Life Together, we have a better perspective regarding the different dimensions and shadings of marriage and relationships, and even the complexities.”
One of those complexities – self-identity – is at the crux of one of the album’s strongest tracks – the insightful and poignant ballad, “Woman First.” It raises the question: How do you reclaim the person you were before life’s other demands took precedence?
“This song is about reconnecting,” says Graydon. “As a woman, there’s an airy, girlish, sexy quality that at some point gets a little lost, a lot lost. It’s kind of difficult to recapture when you’re married or in a committed relationship, work full-time or simply have a busy life. Your mate can sometimes ease a lot of that for you and reaffirm feelings without even realizing it. The communication between couples can be so extraordinary yet so simple at the same time.”
Another arresting ballad, “Where Would I Be (The Question),” finds Dantzler pondering what life would be like without his wife. “It’s a valid question that people need to ask themselves when they’re experiencing doubts about their lives. I realized all of the things I wanted to accomplish in my life have come together as a result of having love.”
And while some of the subject matter may be serious, IN THIS LIFE TOGETHER is far from being a ‘preachy’ treatise on love and marriage. By turns, a playful, fun vibe weaves its way throughout the album beginning with the percolating track “Turn It Up.”
“Bedtime Story” is a lullaby dedicated to their children. Then, there’s the funky old school track “Sneak A Freak,” which ?Graydon describes as a sequel to Kindred’s first single, “Far Away.”
“Everybody always asks us about the line in ‘Far Away’ about not getting any ass until the kids are asleep. ‘Sneak A Freak’ is kind of a sequel to that line. Fatin and I have a lot of fun together. And obviously from the number of children we have, we’ve snuck in
quite a few of those moments.”
“We just had a lot of fun making this record,” adds Graydon, “and people will be able to hear the lightness of it. This record makes being married and having a family life feel like a fun, relaxed space to be in.”
Underscoring that vibe is Kindred’s 10-piece band, a tight collective well versed in R&B/hip-hop/funk/pop rhythms and melodies hanks to the group’s regular stint at Philadelphia’s fabled Black Lily showcase. It was this showcase, the launching pad for such acclaimed performers as Kindred’s labelmate, Jill Scott, which helped the group secure its deal with Hidden Beach.
Prior to that, both Dantzler and Graydon got their starts in the music business as teens. The Philadelphia-bred Dantzler co-wrote songs for Pebbles and Bell Biv DeVoe, while Washington, DC-native Graydon inked a solo recording contract at the age of 15. Joining forces to work on an album together, love struck. After a brief stint doing the nine-to-five hustle, the pair decided to once again pursue their first love.
Writing lyrics and co-producing some of the tracks, Kindred collaborated with familiar and new faces on IN THIS LIFE TOGETHER to help hone the album’s real-life, we-feel-you-vibe. Among the familiar faces from the first album: Elise Perry (“Far Away”) and Anthony Bell (“Surrender to Love”). Among the new: Perry’s 21-year-old understudy Kristin Price and Ronnie Tyson. Production veterans Easy Mo Bee and Dinky Bingham are also on board.
“We tried to work with those people who were there for us on the first album,” says Dantzler. “But this time we approached the music by what felt good to us. Going a little out of our comfort zone this time gave us room to grow and experiment.”
And the chance for fans and newcomers to become better acquainted with the Kindred spirit. “You don’t know what to expect when you put out an album,” muses Dantzler. “As an artist, you’re always pushing forward to gain more acceptance. We were blessed with ‘Surrender to Love.’ It was very rewarding to go on the road and see the people you’ve touched. We hope to build on that with ‘In This Life Together’.”
Graydon adds: “I think we learned to really trust our instincts more and to release the
fear of honestly being who we are on tape. We’re really proud of the work that we did on this record, and we hope others will enjoy listening and feeling the Kindred experience.”
