AUDIO: The Jones Family Singers' 'Down on Me'; New Album THE SPIRIT SPEAKS Out Today

The Jones Family Singers, consisting of five sisters, two brothers and their father, have been wrecking churches and festivals alike for over two decades. But they've never before made a studio album that displays the depth of their pure musical gifts quite like The Spirit Speaks, slated for release today, April 1, via Arts+Labor. Scroll down to listen to one of the album's new songs, Down On Me!

Before they ran tape on the Pentecostal Jones family at Jim Eno's Public Hi-Fi studio in early 2013, producers John Croslin and Eric Friend of the Reivers pored over all the group's previous recordings dating as far back as the late '80s and mostly recorded live in church, and chose what they felt was the strongest material. "Some of these songs we haven't played in 20 years," exclaimed Bishop Fred Jones, the family patriarch, who has resided over the congregation at Mount Zion Church of God In Christ in Markham, TX for three decades.

Croslin and Friend also recorded newer songs, such as the Bishop's "Try Jesus" and Fred Jones, Jr.'s "Going Home," to get the full representation of the band that has wowed crowds at ACL Fest and SXSW a total of eight times.

The producers had never worked with a gospel group before, but in the rich sound of the JFS they heard R&B/funk with lyrics of praise. Musical director Fred Jones Jr., the group's most valuable player, deftly handles guitar and keyboards as his sisters lock in on harmonies like God's own Vandellas. Yep, it's gospel music - but fans of such nouveau soul bands as Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings and Vintage Trouble will also find a soul workout at the core.

Impressed by the band's fervor onstage and humility off, Austin filmmaker Alan Berg("Outside Industry: The Story of SXSW") decided in 2012 to make a documentary that explored the triumphs and tribulations of this working gospel band. The artistry he witnessed onstage, as well as his film's soundtrack, deserved some time in a world class studio with experienced producers, so the band took off from their day jobs for a three day weekend at Public Hi-Fi in Austin. The original goal was to record a couple new tracks for the film, but the project soon yielded a full-length LP that has inspired more than one gospel enthusiast to exclaim that "nobody's making records like this anymore." The Spirit Speaks is a throwback that can really throw down. Buoyed by the new LP, the Jones Family Singers are eager to hit the road. Besides churches, nightclubs and big music festivals, they've also brought their musical ministry to prisons.

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