Durand Jones & The Indications – Flowers (Dead Oceans)

Durand Jones & The Indications distil soul traditions into a sound that is timeless, tender, and deeply felt. On Flowers, their most emotionally open work yet, the DIY spirit of their self-titled debut, the lush protest-soul of American Love Call, and the satin sheen of Private Space have evolved into a gentle and assured power.

This is a record about recovery and return: to love, to self, to the people and places that shaped us. It is also a work of extraordinary restraint and attention to detail. Each snare hit, every horn swell, and all the string passages feel purpose-built for growth and healing.

The core trio of Durand Jones (lead vocals), Aaron Frazer (drums, falsetto vocals), and Blake Rhein (guitar) are joined by longtime collaborators Steve Okonski (keys) and Michael Montgomery (bass). Together, they play with deep chemistry to create an album that is reflective and warm.

The title track Flowers begins the album with 24 seconds of gentle strings that ease us into the mood. Then Paradise drifts in with ghostly vocals, gliding guitar, and a five-minute groove that never rushes but passes quickly. Lovers’ Holiday, carried by Frazer’s falsetto, is soft and sunlit—a daydream of escape: “Let’s catch a flight, hop on a plane to Fiji… Be lovers on a private beach.” It feels like two people daring to imagine joy in a modest, hopeful, and real way.

On I Need the Answer, the clipped beat and floating guitar hang in midair while a horn gently rises. It is a plea for engagement, calmly made, echoing the political subtlety and human respect of Curtis Mayfield, more concerned with finding common ground than with what divides us. Jones delivers it with such poise, it feels as though he is offering you a seat beside him.

Flower Moon provides the album’s romantic axis. “Ooh, ooh, ooh, it smells so sweet when love is in bloom,” Frazer sings, his voice floating on the musical arrangement. “A simple spark in May means lovin’ in June / All beneath the light of a flower moon.” The brass, with percussion and bass circling gently, allows the lyrics to glimmer and creates space for a romantic clarity that unfurls gradually and with lasting warmth.

Really Wanna Be With You briefly raises the temperature. The drums threaten to start a party before settling into a confident stride. As the song swells and shifts, so does the emotional energy. It grows in certainty while retaining its humility.

“Ain’t too much, but it’s all we got,” a lyric in Been So Long, echoes across the entire record. The track is an ode to memory, friendship, and coming home: “The river, it flows and it bends as it goes / Forever, it’s never changing… You’re back in the town that made ya.” It emphasises return, both physical and emotional. Its chorus, “Pick me up, drive around / Tellin’ everybody that we’re back in town,” is a joyful hometown reunion rendered universal.

Later tracks extend the album’s healing arc. Everything is cinematic and hushed, with empty spaces between words filled by feeling. Rust and Steel unfurls into horns and vocal intensity. If Not For Love brings a livelier snap, its groove light on its feet.

Without You, the closing track, folds confession into arrangement—whispered lyrics, rising strings, rolling drums, all anchored by deep bass. The question it leaves us with, “How will I do without you?”, is left hanging, gently unanswered.

Like Michael Kiwanuka, the palette of soul on their latest album embraces evolution while holding true to its essence. “Do you believe in flower moons?” is the question at the heart of these tracks. By the end, it feels like an invitation to faith, love, and letting relationships bloom again.

There may be moments from some when the album holds its gentle mid-tempo gait too steadily, and sometimes the lyrics feel charming but lightweight. Yet for those listeners content to settle in rather than chase peaks, the rewards are many. The music is tenderly crafted, and the sincerity of the delivery never wavers.

With Flowers, Durand Jones & The Indications have made a musical home for simple joys and warm feelings to bloom again gently and enduringly.

John Bradbury

Flowers is released Friday, June 27th. Click here to pre-order.

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John Bradbury
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