The legendary ISLEY BROTHERS hope to be back in the charts next month with the long-awaited follow-up to their 1996 ‘MISSION TO PLEASE’ album – and’ETERNAL’ will feature collaborations with a slew of contemporary acts – as well as one very familiar old face .
One of the tracks on ‘Eternal’ will feature music written by Curtis Mayfield just prior to his death. Jill Scott will also be singing on the album, which will be released in the US on July 14.
The album promises to build on the group’s latter-day modern appeal – bolstered by rap music’s sampling of their highly influential catalogue and, more recently, lead singer Ronald’s signing of Kelly Price to the group’s T Neck record label and his subsequent collaborations with R Kelly (‘On The Down Low’ – remix and Price‘s ‘Friend Of Mine’ remix).
R Kelly has written and produced tracks for the album, as have Janet Jackson producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, Rapheal Saadiq and Avant, the soulful newcomer signed to basketball player Magic Johnson’s independent label, who came to prominence on the back of last year’s radio hit ‘Separated’.