On their expansive album “Solid Ground”, Steve and Dolapo construct an audacious sanctuary out of pure, unvarnished hope. Together, Dolapo Oladejo and Steve Petrinko draw upon sixty years of shared choral discipline and vast multi-instrumental instincts, assembling a kaleidoscopic sound that refuses to settle into an easy category. They treat the modern pop spectrum as an expansive canvas where heavy burdens are acknowledged, dissected, and then firmly escorted out the door.
The record shifts moods with an adventurous, almost startling curiosity. Early on, “Fresh Squeeze” skips across luminous 80s dance-pop rhythms designed to shake off inertia, shaking awake tired limbs like morning sun bursting into a dim room. A few strides later, the record swerves into “Obstacles,” which abruptly detonates into thick, distorted rap metal riffs and primal confrontation. On paper, that tonal leap should rattle the frame, but here the collision works. Both artists understand theatrical momentum they recognize that deep shadows give the towering heights their scale.
Whenever the adrenaline threatens to overwhelm, the tempo eases with deliberate grace. “Slow Steady Roll” settles into an inviting neo-soul groove, offering a warm defense of patience for anyone running themselves ragged chasing personal ambitions. Meanwhile, “I’m Yours” glides along the hazy edges of an after-hours lounge, tender and unguarded. Across the set from the communal shout-along of “Make A Sound” to the arena-ready surge powering “Give Me The Music” the central current remains intact: emotional clarity, brotherhood, and the quiet resolve to keep moving through adversity.
By the time the title track, “Solid Ground,” brings the journey home, the arrangement swells into sweeping cinematic pop, reaching upward with celebratory force. It leaves an intoxicating question behind: in a cultural landscape that often rewards detached cynicism, what happens when two musicians double down on absolute, radical empathy instead?
