Recording her first tracks at the turn of the millennium, American
neo-soulstress Goapele (born July 11th, 1977 in Oakland, California) had first
cut her teeth as a member of the local group Vocal Motion, later enrolling in
the Berklee School of Music and temporarily relocating to Boston to formalise
her musical credentials. 2001 saw the singer-songwriter return to her hometown
to release her debut album, Closer, via a limited run of hard copies. The
self-released project spanned a variety of genres including R&B and trip-hop,
and housed early productions from Jeff Bhasker – late...