Femi Drops Long-Awaited Solo Debut, plays Yoshi's

Femi Andrade may be the Bay Area's best-kept secret. That phrase gets tossed around a lot, but in her case, it's highly applicable. The Afro-Rican soulstress has tempted many local music fans over the years with her dynamic live performances and sultry hooks on other people's songs, but has kept us waiting...and waiting... and waiting for her own solo project, rumored since at least 2004.

The wait is finally over; Femi has finally dropped her debut album Sweet Water Soul, and as the title implies, it's a fluid mix of musical elements and deep emotion. Afro-Caribbean accents distinguish it from any other contemporary R&B/ neo-soul project, and though its sparse number of songs make it more of an EP than an LP, Femi covers more territory on six songs than some artists have their entire careers. Anyone into Sade, Les Nubians, Goapele, or Ledisi shouldn't have any problems feeling the sultry grooves Femi lays down.

But don't just take our word for it. You can experience Sweet Water Soul and Femi's highly-reputed stage show for yourself, tonight at Femi's official record release party at Yoshi's original Oaktown location. Prepare for the show by peeping some tracks on Femi's MySpace page (which has some really cool exclusive remixes on it, btw) and/or check out this Vlog on the making of the record.