When it comes to her band’s latest single, Shon Ruffin gets right to the point. “If you wanna feel sexy, this song fucks,” she says.
Ruffin, Seyko Groves and Paula Saunders are the vocal power trio that fuels the nine-piece, Kansas City-based Freedom Affair. It’s Saunders who takes the lead on “Don’t You Wanna Love Me,” finessing her way over seductive horn lines and the pulsating patterns of a Mica-Sonic. Willie Mitchell used the same pioneering electronic-percussion instrument on Ann Peebles’ 1973 soul classic, “I Can’t Stand The Rain.” Somehow it made perfect sense for his Grammy-winning son, Boo, to break out the Mica-Sonic for his sessions with the Freedom Affair at Memphis’ iconic Royal Studios. Mitchell also used the same Ampex one-inch tape recorder that produced the Peebles hit and other Hi Records classics.
The result is The Freedom Affair, a warm communion of Muscle Shoals grit and Memphis soul that feels at once frozen in time and joyously of the moment. “Don’t You Wanna Love Me” is the second single from the group’s sophomore LP.
“I love it because you can’t help but close your eyes and enjoy,” says Ruffin. “It’s that kind of song.”
We’re proud to premiere the Freedom Affair’s “Don’t You Wanna Love Me.”
—Hobart Rowland
See the Freedom Affair live.
