With a funk/rock pedigree that includes collaborations with artists such as Sheila E, Stevie Wonder, Ringo Starr, John Legend, St. Vincent, and George Clinton, Mychael Gabriel is at the forefront of a new Minneapolis Sound generation. Now, with ‘Fury’, he brings forth probably the most danceable groove of a protest song that Michael Jackson never wrote.
Sounding like early, Off The Wall-era Jackson coupled with some of Nile Rodgers’ best ‘Chic’ guitar chops – plus some proper ‘guitar hero’ funk shredding on the solo at around the two-minute mark – ‘Fury’ rages at the injustice of peaceful protest scapegoating rioting and unrest, wrestling with racism and intolerance, but always with a style and groove that lifts it above being ‘just’ a protest song. ‘Fury’ is a bona fide funk/rock powerhouse of a track, chock-full of swagger and funk alongside its outrage and, well yeah, Fury.
Check out the video for ‘Fury’ on YouTube. Follow Gabriel on Facebook.
Review by Alex Holmes