Aaron Frazer

With his crooning falsetto vocals and inspired take on retro-soul and R&B, Aaron Frazer sounds like a man from another time, though his songs often challenge that notion with unexpected nods from hip-hop and contemporary pop. Best known as the co-lead singer and drummer for Indiana soul revivalists Durand Jones & the Indications, Frazer struck out on his own in 2020, taking elements of that band's sound with him while forging a new path with Introducing... (2021), his debut album. After another album with the Indications, Frazer recorded the Live from Easy Eye Sound EP (2023) and put together his breakup-inspired second solo album, the bittersweet and more stylistically varied Into the Blue (2024). Raised in Baltimore, Frazer was among a small group of college students at Indiana University in Bloomington drawn to classic soul, R&B, and funk heroes like Jackie Wilson, James Brown, and Curtis Mayfield. Along with friends Blake Rhein, Kyle Houpt, and Steve Okonski, he helped form the Indications in 2012 as a backing band for Louisiana-born frontman Durand Jones. The group quickly gelled around their classic soul influences, with Frazer acting as both drummer and falsetto-singing foil to Jones' powerful vocals. Recorded in Frazer's basement, their debut was notoriously made for just $452.11 (including beer) and came out on hip Midwestern soul imprint Colemine Records, earning the band buzz well beyond their stomping grounds. After basing himself in New York, Frazer started his own gospel-inspired project called the Flying Stars of Brooklyn, NY, who released the single "My God Has a Telephone." Following the Indications' acclaimed 2019 follow-up American Love Call, Colemine re-released that Flying Stars single under Frazer's own name to inaugurate his solo career in late 2020. Working with producer Dan Auerbach (the Black Keys), Frazer recorded his full-length debut, Introducing..., which appeared on Dead Oceans and Auerbach's own Easy Eye imprint in January 2021 and reached the upper echelons of the Billboard Heatseekers chart. Six months later, the Indications were back with Private Space, led by the disco-funk throwback "Witchoo," fronted by Frazer. Between albums, Frazer cut Live from Easy Eye Sound. Produced by Dan Auerbach, the five-song 2023 EP included covers of the Invincibles' "Heart Full of Love," Curtis Mayfield's "The Makings of You," and the Eight Minutes' "Looking for a Brand New Game," and added two originals Frazer and Auerbach wrote together. The following June, Frazer offered Into the Blue, which mixed old-school R&B balladry with psychedelic soul, soft rock, disco, and hip-hop. Written in the wake of a long-term relationship, it was produced by Frazer and Alex Goose with a deep cast of other writing and production associates such as Nick Waterhouse and Robin Hannibal. Frazer and Goose combined live instrumentation with decades-spanning samples of vocal groups the Shades, Flying Eagles Gospel Singers, and Hi-Five. ~ Timothy Monger & Andy Kellman