If Milwaukee has produced any examples of soul-gospel-club music, it’s been a while. The city’s latest (or first?) comes courtesy of Tom Noble’s House of Spirits project. A hearty diva somewhere between Donna Summer and Loleatta Holloway sings of how the Lord hasn’t failed her amid life’s—and especially love’s—disappointments. Insanely rubbery bass, strings somewhere in the vicinity of an early-’70s Philadelphia International Records Gamble & Huff production, and post-disco gallop à la hip, early ’80s New York City labels like Ze and 99 (with a couple of dollops of disco-synthesizer pings), make for a retro-futuristic joyful noise. The dub gets crazier still, with more prominent guitar and piano, percussion all over the place and a chant from the first chapter of Job.
