23-year-old South Carolina guitarist/singer/songwriter Marcus King steps out from behind the Marcus King Band (MKB) moniker (and three excellent MKB albums) for his solo debut, El Dorado. Producer Dan Auerbach (Black Keys) teamed up with King to assemble a band made-up of studio pros that includes two veterans from the American Sound Studio band that played behind Elvis, Dusty Springfield and many others legends. Highlights include: the opening contemplative track “Young Man’s Dream”; the driving rocker “The Well”; the ZZ Top-esque boogie “Say You Will”; and the honky-tonk “Too Much Whisky”; the honeyed “Love Song”; the Otis Redding vibed “Wildflowers & Wine”; the Curtis Mayfield-like ballad “One Day She’s Here”; the affecting ballad “Beautiful Stranger”; and the retro-soul styled “Break.” While El Dorado isn’t vastly different from a Marcus King Band album, it is just as enjoyable. – Written by JFelton
SIMILAR | Dan Auerbach, The Black Keys, North Mississippi Allstars, Anders Osborne, The Record Company