The new single from the soulful-house group Tortured Soul perfectly captures the energy and undeniable pull of an on-off romance.
With up-tempo call and response vocals influenced by the sounds of The Temptations, The Whispers, and The Spinners, “Runnin’ Back to You” serves listeners a lively house and disco-esque track. Vocalist and drummer, John Christian Urich, says that when it comes to writing and recording, he always aims to bridge the gap between studio production and performing the music live. “I try to create strong songs that will work with the full production or would still be strong ‘unplugged’. The vocals on this track are a bit more aggressive than other Tortured Soul recordings, digging a little more into a live performance sound”. As for the lyrics, “Runnin’ Back to You” encourages all who listen to hold on to a good thing and to not lose sight of it–or you will be running back to it! “Sometimes you grow out of things or apart from people”, muses Urich. “But then, there are those few joys or relationships in life you may walk away from but inevitably reconnect with”.
The single marks the first of new music since the group’s 2022 album, Take the Day Off, and drops just in time for their multi-live date stint in Johannesburg. The group will be performing two shows at Untitled Basement on December 14th and 15th as well as taking part in this year’s Jams on Ice Grand Festival at the Elkah Stadium from December 17th. The group has performed many shows in South Africa over the years including the DStv Delicious International Food & Music Festival, Cape Town Jazz Festival, PMB Jazz Festival, the Lesotho Tourism Festival, and are excited to return.
Tortured Soul is 100% live modern, deep, soulful, house music freed from the DJ Booth. Influenced by the classic songcraft of Prince, Heatwave, and Kool & The Gang, Tortured Soul is a collective of incredible international musicians united under a groove-centered rhythm. Having been recording and playing live since the early 2000s, Tortured Soul has found a global audience and has performed over 1000 shows in many countries around the world: in Africa, North and South America, all over Europe, Asia and Australia. Their vast catalog includes many collaborations with international DJs and producers including Black Coffee, Ralf Gum, Atjazz, Fka Mash, Osunlade, and Quentin Harris.
Tortured Soul has strategically partnered with the team at I Be Music for the release of “Runnin Back to You” which is available from Slammin Media and distributed worldwide by Believe.
Tickets for these events can be found here.
