Sasha’s Bloc – “Runaway Blues” – Single Review

I think I’d probably have to research our own homepage just to find the last time we ran across a really great Blues/Soul track such as this…I know it’s been a while at this point.  This morning…gotta admit – I’m happier than usual to have it back…I’ve been listening to a lot of hip-hop & rap as of late and the smooth-sound of “Runaway Blues” by Sasha’s Bloc really started to hit the sweet-spot real quick.  Great harmonies and vocals in this track…and you can certainly tell from the sound that this is a band that knows their way around the music-studio.  Of course, you can always look’em up too…and doing so will reveal all of the relevant credentials to completely confirm that this is indeed, a band made up from a group of super-professionals with years of experience combined.

So…I suppose there’s no harm in feeling the Blues this morning!  At least there wasn’t any as far as my ears were concerned – this new single from Sasha’s Bloc really seemed to click into place instantly and stay smooth as smooth gets from the moment it started to the moment it ended.  But really…well…I mean I guess I’m taking my cues from the title…it definitely has a Blues-vein that does run through it – but really I’m hearing something that belongs much closer to the Soul/Jazz sounds & styles I’m familiar with.  That’s a good thing as far as I’m concerned…I don’t often identify with the Blues, even on the bitterest of days…and I really appreciated the main vocals on “Runaway Blues” and how seriously thick, rich and full they sound…but they certainly didn’t sound sad or even all that melancholy, like you might typically associate with Blues music.  Definitely a soulful-sound…kind of uplifting overall really…and yep, you got it – about as professionally & perfectly sung as you could hope to hear a singer sing’em.

Piano stands out beautifully amongst the powerful harmonies and gentle percussion…the keyboards as well – they chime in with some creativity and jazz this single up a bit as they play.  The vocals as far as I can see, read & hear – all come from the well-known a cappella act Take 6, who were actually formed in the same year I was born, back in 1980.  But if my memory serves me right here…and it usually does…I’m positive their music was readily available and on-hand in my household as I grew up.  Pretty sure my father had played me several Take 6 tracks as I gained my musical-education through him throughout those formative years.  I know as a keyboard/piano-player himself – it certainly sounds like his kind of jam on Sasha’s Bloc’s “Runaway Blues.”  It’s all quite comforting, truly.

Chances are…if you’re a fan of Soft Rock, Blues, Gospel, Jazz, Soul…you’re pretty much guaranteed to fall for the sweetness in this tune and its perfect execution.  It sounds like that perfect song for last-call, just before you get ready to pack up your gear from wherever you are and head home after a long, long night.  You can picture yourself driving through the rain…making it home and finally into bed after that exhausting day on the grind…hearing a song like this and drifting off sweetly as it plays into your dreams.

I know that’s where I’m at myself here…it’s 8:43am at the moment…chances are, it’ll be past 9am by the time I get this posted up.  As much as I’d like this to be the song that carries me into dreamland…there’s been a surprising boost in album-reviews and work to be done around good ol’ sleepingbagstudios and chances are, I’ve still got a long, long way to go before it’s all said and done still.  I feel like I’ve been up for forever at this point, maybe about two or three days with about two or three hours of sleep in total…and I know that this is the sound I want to hear last when I go to bed after long last.  That’s not to say that this beautiful tune doesn’t serve you just as well when you’re fully awake to listen to…because it certainly will.  I never once actually felt any more tired in listening to it than I did when it first began, and I’ve had it on repeat throughout this morning as I typed this out.  You’d figure that with it being as dreamlike, emotional and smooth in sound as it is that there’d be a chance I’d be nodding off in my chair – but honestly, no chance.  I really enjoyed this one…and every time it starts I just want to hear “Runaway Blues” again…I’ve been more than fine to let this repeat several times over because each time it starts I know I want to finish it.

But I know…no matter what else I get up to this morning or try to accomplish…this will be the song I end up coming back to finally at the end of the day, to lull me to a proper sleep through its gentle, perfectly performed melody.  Well…as proper as it gets for me anyhow…you know, the usual three or four hours.  But they’re even telling me to ‘cherish every dream’ in the words as if they’re challenging me to close my eyes right now…which is a sentiment I certainly appreciate right now, but not just yet my friends…

Good stuff from Sasha’s Bloc…they’ve brought a sincere smile to my face and to my heart this morning through “Runaway Blues” and I have a feeling that I’d be interested in listening to anything that was to come my way from these professionals.  They sound spectacular performing together; tight and right where it all should be – it’s great stuff.