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The Hamiltones VibeZ

Eighteen tracks from three men who started as Anthony Hamilton's backing singers and turned out to have one of the most powerful things in music: a real blend.

The HamilTones

The HamilTones — 2E (Anthony Eastin), J. Vito and Tony Lelo — began as the backing vocal trio for Anthony Hamilton, which is where the name comes from. They became known in their own right through viral videos: three men in a car or a hotel room, harmonising, frequently taking material nobody would expect and turning it into church.

What they have is genuinely rare. All three are gospel-trained, all three can lead, and the blend between them is tight enough that they can perform with no instruments at all and hold a room.

Their later work has become substantially more political, and that turn is the most interesting thing about them.

What to listen for

The a cappella arrangements are the whole event. "Never Gonna Let You Go" and "Best Friend" show what three voices can do with no support at all.

"What I'm Feelin'" with Anthony Hamilton is the origin point, and "Doo Wop Thank Me" with Snoop Dogg is the most unexpected pairing.

"MCBYL" with Phonte of Little Brother and Rico Barrino connects them to the North Carolina soul world they come from.

The political material is the reason to take them seriously as more than a harmony act. "Nat Turner Intro" and "Nat Turner (Yours Alone)" address the leader of the 1831 Virginia slave rebellion. "James Baldwin," "Nina Simone" and "Congressman John Lewis" are portraits. "My Life Matters," "Message to America" and "Community Meeting" are direct.

"The Warning" features Petey Pablo, another North Carolina artist, and "Imagine" is the John Lennon song rebuilt as gospel.

"ALONE" and "PIECES" are the most recent and most produced.

Go deeper

Their Tiny Desk and viral video work is the fastest introduction and shows what the recordings can only imply.

Anthony Hamilton's Comin' from Where I'm From is the essential album from the man whose band they were.

For the male gospel harmony tradition: Take 6, The Winans, Commissioned and, going back, The Soul Stirrers. And for the a cappella lineage more broadly, Boyz II Men did more than anyone to bring it into pop.

One last observation. A group whose calling card is viral harmony videos could easily have stayed there, and the decision to turn that platform toward Nat Turner, James Baldwin and John Lewis is a serious one. It also works musically — the a cappella format, with its roots in the church and in protest singing, is exactly the right vehicle for the subject matter.

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