Steeped in the politically conscious R&B of the ’70s, the funk grooves of the ’80s, and the acid jazz scene of the ’90s, Smoove & Turrell’s second album, Eccentric Audio, continues to revel in the same nostalgia they pursued on 2009 debut, Antique Soul. With male crooners like Cee-Lo Green and Plan B recently picking up the retro-soul mantle from their female counterparts, the Geordie duo seem fully prepared to join them on 12 tracks which effortlessly navigate through the last 40 years of the genre, from the brass-fused Motown of “Hard Work,” to the funky basslines and fluttering flutes of the disco-tinged “In Deep,” to the jazz-funk cover of Michael Jackson’s Off the Wall album track “It’s the Falling in Love.” The pair occasionally wear their influences a little too firmly on their sleeve, as on the De La Soul-esque flower-power hip-hop riffs of “Broke,” or the O’Jays-aping melodies of “Money.” But Smoove’s inventive old-school-meets-new-school production ensure they largely avoid the pure homage approach, blending vintage horn sections with skittering breakbeats on stomping opener “Higher,” peppering the gritty funk of “Slow Down” with vinyl scratches, and adding trip-hop beats to the melancholic blue-eyed soul of “Wasted Man,” while the Steve Winwood/Paul Weller-esque whisky-soaked vocals of John Turrell provide the album with an authenticity their fellow revivalists can only dream about. Eccentric Audio isn’t as left-field as its title suggests, but it’s an effortless fusion of classic and contemporary from two Northern soul boys who are undeniably the real deal. – Jon O’Brien