Description
In 2010, the excellent New Orleans-based band Galactic teamed up with the “Soul Queen of New Orleans,” Irma Thomas, to record the song Heart of Steel for their album Ya-Ka-May (Anti–87002–2). That collaboration proved to be a great success. Inspired by the experience, Galactic decided to record an entire album with the now-octogenarian singer, whose voice remains as powerful and beautiful as ever.
To bring the project to life, bassist Robert Mercurio, saxophonist and harmonica player Ben Ellman, guitarist Jeff Raines, drummer Stanton Moore, and Hammond organist Richard Vogel composed eight original songs blending classic New Orleans soul with 21st-century funk. Completing the set is a stirring, gospel-infused cover of Nancy Wilson’s 1964 R&B hit How Glad I Am. The result of this fruitful collaboration is the album Audience With The Queen.
Where I Belong, driven by Stanton Moore’s dynamic drumming and Richard Vogel’s vibrant organ playing, punctuated with punchy horns, takes us soaring, and we never come back down. Irma Thomas is truly impressive, expressing a lifetime’s devotion to song: “I guess I’m right where I belong/ Still doing my thing, singing my song/ I still got a love affair with the sound of music in the air.”
She also wryly comments on working with musicians much younger than herself: “I was in Paris drinking champagne/ When you was in diapers and crying.”
Love’s Gonna Find A Way Again, with Ben Ellman swapping his saxophone for a harmonica, evokes the spirit of the great Allen Toussaint. Lady Liberty, a blend of Toussaint and the Staple Singers, carries a strong social message:
“The whole damn world’s on fire … Another Black man shot down last night, and they keep adding up.”
The track also features an outstanding saxophone solo from Ellman.
Irma Thomas delivers the Memphis soul-style ballad Puppet On My String with fiery intensity. Sparkling percussion and a growling bass line define Peace In My Heart, where Thomas’s voice shines brightly. The message in People is one of cautious optimism: “People tell me that all in good time/ The world will be a better place/ But maybe people have lost their damn mind.”
The song also references the devastating Hurricane Katrina, which directly impacted Irma Thomas—she lost both her home and her club in August 2005: “The sound of hurricanes washing on my doors.” The melody recalls Lee Dorsey’s Ride Your Pony.
Over You is a blues-funk number that perfectly highlights Irma Thomas’s deep, resonant voice. The album concludes with Be Your Lady, a reflection on the complexities of romantic relationships, where the singer warns a would-be lover that she can be “mean as a rattlesnake and sweeter than sugarcane.”
The synergy between Irma Thomas and Galactic is flawless. This album is simply magnificent.
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