We all love genres, don’t we? Especially lazy journalists like me, it gives us an immediate and obvious handle, a place to start, a pin stuck in the sonic map. But sometimes you come across an artist, an album, a sound that seems to forgo the usual pigeon-holing and labeling, not because it doesn’t fit easily in any one genre, but because it seems to go beyond the idea of genres altogether and instead is better merely tagged with the word classic. Or at least future classic. If the songs are so immediate that you feel like you have been listening to them for years, even on the first spin, then there can’t be any other word for it…can there?
“Higher,” which opens up the album, is one of those sophisticated and gentle songs that reminds you of icons such as Steve Winwood during his pop-rock golden years, a blend of deft songwriting and intelligent and accessible vocals. Throw in a neat guitar break and big choruses; you will have everything you need.
But if you think these guys can’t rock out with the best of them, “Delerius” and “Cinnamon Skin,” which follow, certainly push things fully into the rock and roll realms, both songs running on big guitars and, at times, even more, prominent vocals. It’s an album of many moods: from the more understated “Echo” to the more old school R&B of “Get Ya Some” and from the foot on the monitor vibes of “I Don’t See A Tear” to the more understated ebbs and flows of “Nothing Left to Show.”
It’s pop. It’s rock. Every song is a single, every tune an anthem. Like I said, label it classic, and you’re done!
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