New album: The Blessed Unrest
Artist: Sarah Bareilles
Label: Epic
Rating: 3 stars out of 5
Sara Barielles is known to millions as a former judge on the NBC karaoke show “The Sing Off,” but don’t hold that against her. With the music industry suffering from what looks like an incurable case of irritable bowel, Bareilles can’t really be faulted for using TV as a means to get people to notice her music.
Thankfully, the music Barielles is creating is quite good. Bareilles’ fourth album, “The Blessed Unrest,” isn’t as bright and cheery as her previous effort “Kaleidoscope Heart,” but the songs are still catchy and predominantly upbeat. With a slight modern-tinted nod to Motown, “Little Black Dress” is the type of relationship song Carole King might write if she were a young woman of the 21st century. Filled with dashed expectations and regret, the song is still a toe tapper.
“Hercules” and “Chasing the Sun” pull from the same straw Fiona Apple has been nursing lately, which would be fine if Apple wasn’t already doing it. Barielles’ singing and piano playing is invigorating, and in some instances makes fair to middling songs sound downright majestic.
Lyrically, “1000 Times” is tailor-made for the end credits of an overwrought high school drama, but Barielles’ voice gives the song an edge that saves it from the scrap heap. “I Choose You” is a pleasant piece of Kate Bush quirk pop, and singalong of the year candidate “Eden” overcomes the most annoying drum machine this side of Right Said Fred.
All things considered, the highs outweigh the lows on “The Blessed Unrest.” This album is not exactly a watershed moment in Barielles’ young career, but it does bode well for the future. Once the pursuit of massive pop stardom has waned, Barielles will be able to lose the annoying pop production that weighs down some of her best material.
Classic album: Curtis
Artist: Curtis Mayfield
Label: Curtom/Rhino
Rating: 5 stars out of 5
The solo debut of former Impressions member Curtis Mayfield came out of nowhere in 1970 to become the definitive psychedelic soul album.
While most of Mayfield’s work with the Impressions was on the smoother side of soul music, his first solo foray was more in line with the then recent funk innovations of James Brown, Funkadelic and Sly Stone. What set Mayfield’s music apart was his skill as a producer and conceptualist. The songs on “Curtis” were written with specific but unobtrusive themes in mind, and the arrangements could hang with any Phil Spector production.
The album’s most popular track — “If There’s a Hell Below We’re All Gonna Go” — begins with a thick, murky intro straight out of Pink Floyd before shifting up into a horn-driven funk fest. Weaving the tensions of the time with the desire to overcome them, “If There’s a Hell ...” was a wake up call for a generation that had been busy pointing fingers for the better part of a decade.
The combination of inner city prose and lush orchestral arrangements on “The Other Side of Town” was a precursor to the Philly soul sound that was about five years away. “Move on Up” rides on a horn section that’s as tight as Chicago but funky as Santana’s Woodstock performance of “Soul Sacrifice.” The groove is relentless and Mayfield’s upper register vocals knit everything together perfectly.
“Curtis” still sounds fresh today, and cuts that received little to no airplay (“Readings in Astrology,” “Underground”) should come as welcome surprises to listeners only familiar with “Ghetto Child” and “Give It Up.” It’s impossible to go wrong with “Curtis,” and anyone infected with the funk should seek it out.
Jon Dawson’s album reviews appear every Thursday in The Free Press. Contact Jon at 252-559-1092 or jon.dawson@kinston.com. Purchase ‘Making Gravy in Public’ at jondawson.com.