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Written
by Laura Dodero, posted by blog admin
The
third release from twenty eight year old Nick Black, Summer + Spring, is easily
the most complete recording yet from a young musician and singer that has
amassed more and more of a reputation as one of R&B, soul, and funk’s
foremost practitioners working today. These aren’t songs devoted solely to just
having a good time, but they do have an upbeat sound even at their most serious
and largely concern themselves, subject-wise, with self reflection and
interpersonal relationships. He’s grown enough as a performer and songwriter
that he’s comfortable incorporating comedic tracks alongside the more serious
numbers, but he never loses sight of musical excellence even when his point of
view is less than serious. He’s logged a lot of miles and sparked audiences
across the country since his 2012 debut and the passion he brings to bear for
what he does distinguishes him from the pack.
He
comes leaping out of his corner swinging with the first song “Joy to the Girl”.
The not so subtle play on a popular phrase works wonders for this charming and
very funky track and Black spices it up even more with a supple vocal and
flashes of the guitar brilliance he brings to every project. His guitar playing
is held in check on the album’s title song “Summer & Spring”, but it has a noticeable
effect thanks to the crackling fills it drops into the mix and how much
chemistry it strikes up with the rhythm and brass sections. While some songs
are obviously better than others, I never hear anything else than full on
chemistry stamped on each of the album’s thirteen tracks and few songs
illustrate that better than the laugher “Nick at Night”. Once again, Black
plays off a phrase common in the culture and makes it his own, but there are
layers to this comedic romp as a close listen to the lyric gives listeners a
chance to form more than one interpretation. “Runaway Heart” is, arguably, the
closest that Summer + Spring comes to an outright blues, but there’s a
commercial side to this song as well that primes it for radio play. Despite his
allegiance to styles that have long fallen out of commercial favor, Black’s
songs are crafted with an obvious desire to appeal to a much wider audience
than genre buffs and he’s successful in this regard.
“Neighbor”
is likely the nearest that Black comes to manifesting an outright rock sound
and pairs up quite powerfully with its funked out follow up “When the Morning
Comes”. Black cuts loose on the latter song with stinging lead work and an
unerring sense of rhythm that gives the song some added internal propulsion. “Dance
in the Light” has some of the same funk influences, but they are tempered some
and much more stylized than on the aforementioned cut. Summer and Spring ends
with the one two punch of “Outside of You” and “The River” – two tunes that
could scarcely be more different. The former is a confidently striding soul
rave up with just the right amount of force employed to make an impression
while the closer concludes things on an acoustic blues note and contains Black’s
most soulful vocal on the release. It’s quite an album for this young performer
and undoubtedly his best yet.
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