Soul Juggernaut: Chosen family sparks sonic success for The Freedom Affair’s new album
Photo by Kyle Braun
While waiting for our food at the Tiki Taco on Troost, the two children of Chris Hazelton—band leader for Kansas City soul sensations The Freedom Affair—are being watched by his parents. When vocalists Seyko Groves and Paula Saunders each show up, the kids go running to them like they’re aunties, not just ladies with whom dad works. It’s the perfect encapsulation of just how close these band members are.
The nine unrelated musicians are, undeniably, more family than familiar these days.
“The fact that it’s been this long, and we’re still doing it, proves the chemistry is not a fluke,” Saunders points out. “Because nine different people, personalities—we’ve been on tour and had a good time, and people are like, ‘How did you do that?’ Well, we’re all very talented, but we are not stuck up about it. And that’s rare.”
The Freedom Affair—with the mastery of Hazelton on keys, Cole Bales on guitar, Branden Moser on bass, Dave Brick on drums, Pete Carroll on trumpet and flugelhorn, and Brett Jackson on tenor and baritone sax—is perhaps most lauded for the vocal prowess of Groves, Saunders, and Shon Ruffin.
Photo by Kyle Braun
Normally, if a band has three vocalists, one is singing lead, and the other two fade into the background. This isn’t Diana Ross & The Supremes or Beyoncé. This is The Supremes or Destiny’s Child. This is a trio, where every part supports the other, with certain songs that play to everyone’s strengths.
“Each of us can do this one thing that’s really great, and then you can hear us all together, which is also impressive,” says Saunders. “It’s not like there’s one strong one and the other ones just hang on.”
“I would take it a step further and say that this next record even shines a light on each one of these ladies in ways that you haven’t heard them before,” Hazelton adds—and he’s so very correct.
The band’s new self-titled album The Freedom Affair comes nearly five years after their full-length debut, Freedom Is Love—a recording which might’ve slotted right in alongside the music released on Daptone or Colemine Records the past decade or so, yet the project sounds like a lost ‘70s Southern soul record. From the opening swampy guitar notes of “With You” to the protest soul of “Get My Share,” all the way to the one-two knockout punch of the gospel soul standout “Anchor” and dancefloor filler “Coming Home” that end the record, this is an album you’ll be hard-pressed to remove from your turntable.
“All of the songs were written with a very clear intention of, ‘This is the sound we’re going for, these are the songs that belong on this record together,’” Hazelton says of the LP’s ten tracks.
None of this would have happened without a trip the band made to Royal Studios when on tour in spring of 2023. While standing outside the building and marveling that this was where Al Green cut the likes of “Let’s Stay Together” and Ann Peebles did “I Can’t Stand the Rain,” manager and engineer Lawrence “Boo” Mitchell came out and asked if they wanted to come in and take a look around.
Photo by Kyle Braun
“We went inside and we’re all just starstruck,” Hazelton recalls. “That was the pivotal moment of like, ‘Okay, this is a sign. We need to do a record here. We need to lean into this sound that people are responding to the most.’ We really got the ball rolling pretty quick after that.”
The Freedom Affair had workshopped songs for the record and road-tested a few live—a necessary process, as the nine members only had four days to record the entire album.
“A lot of the tracks you hear were first takes,” explains Hazelton. “We tracked the rhythm section live, and a lot of the time, the final vocal take was recorded live with the band and wasn’t overdubbed. It was the true, honest, first performance of it.”
That’s a big part of why The Freedom Affair—and by extension this album—feel so real. They’re influenced by so much of the music that came from past eras, but they come by it naturally. The band doesn’t feed on nostalgia, nor are they trying to replicate the past. It’s a fresh sound borne of a lifetime listening to Sly and the Family Stone, Bloodstone, and more.
Hazelton is willing to grant there are a lot of nods to that specific era on The Freedom Affair, especially as the band was in the studio where it happened, meaning there are little Easter eggs all over the record—be it the electric conga set from “I Can’t Stand the Rain” or the Coca-Cola case Al Green stomped on while recording “Love and Happiness.” The vibe, however, isn’t so much kitschy or gimmicky as it is, “We got this here. Why don’t we use it?”
“We’re not copying and it’s not trendy,” Groves says. “This is honestly who we are, right? If we weren’t in this band, we would be fans of this band, which is why it works so well together.”
The Freedom Affair is performing an album release party with Julia Haile and Katy Guillen & The Drive at Madrid Theatre on Friday, May 2. The album will be available on vinyl, compact disc, and digitally on Friday, May 9.
Click below to read the May 2025 Issue of The Pitch Magazine:
