“Eyes of Love” by the Edge of Daybreak
I discuss a lesser-known vintage soul gem.
This album review examines the legacy of Eyes of Love, one of the most moving records you’re ever likely to hear.
Genre: R&B, Soul, Funk
Label: Numero Group
Release Date: January 1, 1979
Vibe: 🐦⬛
👉 Click the GIF to stream the album on your favorite platform
Let’s start with the backstory, as it will inform how you listen to and absorb an album as emotionally rich and meaningful as Eyes of Love.
It was recorded at Powhatan Correctional Center, a Virginia state prison that was located on the outskirts of Richmond (it closed in 2015). The band and production crew were composed entirely of inmates, serving sentences ranging from a half-dozen years to six decades. Based on material available from the album’s initial release in 1979, the group’s lead singer and drummer, Jamal Jahal Nubi, was joined by Harry Coleman (vocals), James Carrington (piano/keyboard), Cornelius Cade (guitar), McEvoy Robinson (bass), and Willie Williams (percussion). They were all allowed to play instruments on site, but there was no overdubbing possible, so additional inmates were asked to sub in when some of the regulars had to hop on vocal harmonies. On top of those limitations, the entire LP had to be recorded in one take because the group members weren’t permitted to leave the prison. Richmond’s Alpha Audio was brought on-site to record, working with a budget of $3,000.
With that context in mind, this album has no right to sound as good (or as joyous) as it does. The version you can stream or purchase on physical media today is a marvel of rich, textural soul music, with influences ranging from 1960s doo-wop to, for its time, more contemporary acts like Earth, Wind & Fire and the Isley Brothers. I can only imagine how challenging it must’ve been to mic every individual and their instruments properly, never mind getting clear separation between all those different elements in the mix while laying each track down on the fly. There were no second chances during the album’s creation process, and you can hear it in every note. The story goes that the closer, “Our Love,” was completed as the prison guards were telling everyone to wrap things up. The notion of how precarious this event was, of how fleeting those moments were when the inmates could break free from their circumstances and, spiritually, step outside their cell walls, gives this music its enormous power.
The tonal balance of Eyes of Love strikes is unlike many other soul albums out there, no matter how inconspicuous they may be. Like the genre’s great balladeers (many of whom I’ve covered in this newsletter), there’s fragility beneath the warmth and defiance beneath the scar tissue. These were songs written inside a system designed to erase any sense of freedom or the outside world, and yet the harmonies you hear on this record are shaped by love and optimism more than anything else. Ballads like “Let Us” and “Let’s Be Friends” are incredibly gorgeous and heartfelt, evoking Smokey Robinson, Philip Bailey, and Gerald Alston in equal measure. The harmonies work overtime on the former in particular, with a staggering moment in the song’s second half when the vocals reach higher than you think possible given the recording conditions. I imagine these current digital masters have undergone at least a few rounds of polishing, but there’s an earned, organic feel to everything the Edge of Darkness did that adds so much pathos to the words.
Most improbably, this LP also has some legit grooves. Straight up funk jams that you can dance to if you want. The opening title track is a weightless bop, anchored by a Spinners-esque rhythm section that more than holds its own. I’m convinced that “I Wanna Dance With You” and “Edge of Daybreak” could’ve easily been R&B chart hits with a proper recording studio treatment. The bones of something spectacular are there in principle, magnifying the injustice that this record didn’t get a proper reappraisal until decades later. A handful of local media covered its release in 1979, and only 1,000 vinyl copies were printed. The miracle is how little residual bitterness built up during that time. In a later interview, Coleman explained that recording this album “lifted me up,” even though there was no way of knowing when he’d ever get out. “It’s a prison. You can’t go nowhere,” he added. “And [the music] gave me my freedom.” The simple act of performing made those walls disappear, if only for a few hours.
The tension at the heart of this story has been part of the American sociopolitical fabric from the very beginning. When this album was released, the country had experienced unprecedented prison population growth, a trend that would only intensify through the Reagan and Clinton administrations. There’s plenty of statistical and anecdotal evidence to support the narrative that laws and judgements have disproportionately targeted Black people before and since Eyes of Love. As of 2020, Black Americans are twice as likely to be arrested as whites. They also make up 48% of those imprisoned for “violent crime” (what counts or doesn’t as such is a head-spinning internet rabbit hole all its own), despite making up just 37% of the overall prison population. The freedom longed for on this record, the same ones plenty of us take for granted, are, in many cases, no safer today than they were back then.
The good news is this story has a happy ending. All the incarcerated members of Edge of Daybreak eventually made parole, and, in 2025, continued to enjoy mainstream success. There’s been a vinyl reissue, a documentary, and a podcast that flesh out their incredible story of resilience and passion for music. Better still, they released a new EP that proves, nearly a half-century later, they’ve still got it. Eyes of Love used to be known primarily as a crate-digger flex, another pop culture artifact that only landed in the hands of the privileged. Now, as a document of Black endurance, of creativity that refused to go quiet for good, it’s never been more critical. These men carried the weight of confinement but never let it define them as human beings who are still capable of so much. It’s not inspirational in a tidy way. It’s braver than that.
And, if you let it, this album will remind you that art doesn’t need ideal conditions to thrive. Sometimes, the complete opposite is true.
Fantastic post Matt. Thanks 🙏
Amazing story.