Willie West & The High Society Brothers

Lost Soul

In the Fall of 2014, Timmion Records, an independent recording studio and label located in Helsinki, Finland brings to the world an album's worth of exceptionally potent soul music. Lost Soul, the fresh release from the underappreciated New Orleans legend Willie West redefines the emotive and artistic quality of contemporary soul music. It takes the music far away from formulaic modes of the genre, and crafts its own swampy, dark, and poetic space, which leans more towards the work by independent songwriters of the 1970's than their commercial counterparts.

Lost Soul continues on the moody path laid by the 7" single recordings West has done with The High Society Brothers band from the year 2009. The group is composed of the key members of the Finnish funk powerhouse The Soul Investigators, who have previously backed worldwide success stories for artists such as Nicole Willis and the vocal duo Myron & E.

Born and raised in Louisiana, Willie West made his first recording already in the year 1959. While being backed by The Meters, he also had one release on Warner Brothers in the mid 1970's, plus numerous singles produced by Allen Toussaint. Even though he was noticed locally and in the circles of soul music aficionados with minor hits such as "Did You Have Fun" in 1960, Willie never managed to break to national success. During the past years, he has lived in Minnesota and kept himself busy in music. Lost Soul might be just the thing that finally gives him wider recognition.