Soul Essence

Soulful house, past, present and future.

House FM, every Friday at 12 noon.

Every week I bring together the soulful house I’m loving now with classics, forgotten favourites and records I’ve collected along the way.

Latest show

How to listen

Latest show

Soul Essence on House FM – Show 371 – 2nd October 2026 – Soul Essence with Martin Gale

This week, we begin October with classic vocal house before taking a turn through gospel, disco and a bit of jackin house. We've got familiar favourites with a fresh touch, keeping Soul Essence nice and soulful along the way. Jody Watley's Off The Hook gets us underway with that MAW mix, while Peacey and Rona Ray's Playground brings Groove Assassin into the picture. Dajae's Brighter Days gives us a gospel-house lift, with that familiar vocal still doing the business. In the second hour, we hear the brass of The Chocolate Fudge Band before Seamus Haji's Weekend takes us back towards the strings with John Morales on the mix. Later, there's remastered British house from Inland Knights and that killer bassline on The Fog's Been A Long Time, before Purple Disco Machine brings us Song for O.

About Soul Essence

Soul Essence is about the kind of house music that moves the soul as well as the feet.

Each week I bring together the best soulful house I can find, from brand new releases to classics pulled from my own collection. My sound ranges from deep house, garage, disco, Latin and funk along the way, but soul is always at the heart of it.

It’s two hours of tracks I genuinely love, selected and put together with care to share with people who feel the same.

Guests

Soul Essence has always been about sharing great music, but I also love talking to the people who make it.

Over the years I’ve been lucky enough to sit down with some brilliant artists, DJs and producers to talk about their music, their influences and the stories behind the records, including:

What listeners say

I do listen to other podcasts like Defected Radio or Toolroom Radio but your show hits the spot with me every time because your style of music puts me in a happy place.
Who else would play the Salsoul Orchestra or Roy Ayers? Anyone that plays legends like that and mixes it with today’s beats has my respect.

— Terry, Sydney, Australia

Week in and week out, Martin puts up the best tracks. I look forward to a new release every week! I have so many saved for the long weekend runs.
Keep up the awesome work!

— Scott, Florida, US

I love listening to your music because it’s always uplifting and is very inspiring with your eclectic range of house. Please keep your amazing music coming. All my friends love it too, those who appreciate quality, good house music.

— Simon, Barry, South Wales

Listen live

Soul Essence airs every Friday at 12 noon on House FM.

You can tune in via DAB+ in the London area, or listen online by asking your smart speaker to “play House FM” or downloading the House FM app available on iPhone and Android.

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