Leon Bridges – Good Thing (Columbia Records)

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Three years ago, Texan soul man Leon Bridges arrived on the scene with a beautiful retro soul album Coming Home which took things back to basics in a glorious fashion.

For his second album Good Thing, Bridges has undertaken a massive transformation moving away from Sam Cooke and Otis Redding as primary influences towards a more contemporary R&B sound similar to the likes of Maxwell and John Legend. 

The results, however, are mixed. The production of this album draws on modern R&B and soul for inspiration with pop beats and the incorporation of synths in particular a complete departure from his debut.

Songs like Bad Bad News and Mrs retain the retro feel of his debut and stand out as excellent tracks, but these moments are few and far between in what seems like a conscious decision from Bridges to fit in with the current R&B scene.

What is clear after listening to Good Thing is that the retro soul style suits Bridges better and if he wanted to experiment more, maybe he should have done a Temptations and gone down the psychedelic soul route.

In the end, his move into dance soul and contemporary R&B has not worked that well and unfortunately, I feel he has regressed a bit on Good Thing following what was a stunning debut.

Sam Smith

Good Thing is due out on May 4th

Track Listings

  • Bet Ain’t Worth the Hand
  • Bad Bad News
  • Shy
  • Beyond
  • Forgive You
  • Lions
  • If It Feels Good (Then It Must Be)
  • You Don’t Know
  • Mrs.
  • Georgia to Texas

Here’s a blast from the past! Click on the link below to see a 13th Floor concert review of Leon Bridges’ debut show in Auckland at the St James Theatre on Jan 9, 2016:

https://13thfloor.co.nz/leon-bridges-st-james-theatre-concert-review/ 

 

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