The new record from Son Little is an impressive blending of modern attitudes with retro soul. That's a poor way of describing it, admittedly, but the release has a lot of throwback charm, and it's hard to imagine anyone not responding to Little's heartfelt delivery on some level. Aloha, out on Friday via ANTI-, is likely the musician's best offering to date.
"That's The Way" is all Billy Paul slow-burn stuff, while "About Her, Again" marries a tune heavily in debt to Seventies soul with a bit of the blues. It's just enough to give this real pathos, even if the cut remains fairly pop in the best sense of that word. Elsewhere, "3rd Eye Weeping" is conscious, while the excellent "Belladonna" is as light as air.
Son Little's vocals recall everyone from Stevie to The Stylistics throughout this album, but he's definitely his own person. No mere clone this, the material on Aloha consistently nods in the direction of the right points of inspiration, even as the Los Angeles-born singer makes this all feel somehow unique. I mean, one listen to something like "Hey Rose" ought to convince you that while lots of this seems familiar, Little's spin on this kind of stuff is entirely his own, with the quality of the compositions being such that the singer's melange of blues and old school soul seems a borderline revolutionary concept. Credit to Son Little for making so much of Aloha work so well.
Aloha is out on Friday via ANTI-.
More details on Son Little via the official website, or the official Facebook page.
[Photo: Shervin Lainez]