This album is made up by a set of modern pop songs with a lot of classic sound built into them. This often soulful and always quite effective. It is at times hampered by being a bit overproduced. Still, the music is strong enough that it really doesn’t matter that much.
This review is available in book format (hardcover and paperback) in Music Street Journal: 2014 Volume 6 at lulu.com/strangesound.
Track by Track Review
Waiting
Here’s a mellow rocker. This has a soulful vibe, and works really well. It’s catchy and meaty at the same time.
Show Me (feat. Jenna Lavoie) Although this definitely has a modern R&B vibe to it, there’s a classic element at play, too. This one is a little overproduced to my ears, though. The female vocal on this adds a lot of style.
Hold On Intro (feat. Laura Sullivan)
Piano and the sounds of waves crashing makes up this short (33 seconds) instrumental movement.
Hold On The melody on this reminds me of “People Get Ready” just a bit at times. This song is a classy one with a lot of R&B and classic rock in the mix.
One for the Money I love the funky bass line on this. All the bits of vocals in the backdrop have a real hip hop vibe. The keyboard soloing is tasty. This is another that feels a bit over-produced, too. It’s got a good energized groove, though.
Mesmerized Another smooth R&B tune, this has some cool saxophone in the mix. The backing vocals on the chorus are great, too. There are definitely overproduced moments here, but this is a great number despite that.
Don't Say The groove here is energetic, but the overproduction hurts the song.
I Love the Way Starting with piano, this is a jazzy, energized number. There is a bit of Motown kind of feeling to it.
Pretty Eyes This has a great melodic soul groove. It also has some cool keyboard elements. It’s one of the better songs here.
Mighty Love There is definitely a Motown thing going on here. The horns are a good touch and the piece has a lot of energy and “cool.”
Love Is Here’s another strong soulful groove. There aren’t any big surprises here, but this just flows well and entertains.
