I'm totally with you here!
If I heard this out in a club I would probably dance to it but that doesn't mean that it's good record.
For me one thing about northern soul is that when the records were made they were made by (mostly) black people trying to make a contemporay modern sound. I think most of today's pop or rock bands could do really good imitations of that sound but that's not a very exciting thought.
The point of soul music is that it can be put into a bigger context and tell me something about the times and people that were involved.
This song doesn't do that to me.
When I listen to new music I want it to sound new too!