Curtis Harding's stunning debut album Soul Power, preceding with the lead single Keep on Shining.
Curtis Harding says that soul music, and his music, speak for themselves. It's self-evident on the Atlanta artist's debut, Soul Power.
The driving sound of his electrified Stratocaster, the foot-stomping backbeat and the lyrics swimming in reverb – with something this flourishing, it's almost reductive to just dig around the roots.
Reviews
At a time when indie-leaning music fans have discovered retro-soul and make
records that capture all the sounds and practically none of the feeling of
vintage R&B, Curtis Harding is a breath of fresh air: an artist with a real
gift for classic soul music stylings but little obvious interest in nostalgia.
Harding's solo debut, Soul Power, shows the man is one of the best new R&B
singers extant, but even though the sound of these tunes certainly harkens back
to vintage soul (mostly of the southern variety), Harding doesn't suggest
he's slavishly trying to replicate the past. Instead, this music fuses the
sounds of the '60s and early '70s while injecting them with an edgy energy
that's solidly contemporary. Harding's phrasing is warm, flexible, and
expressive without sinking into the frantic melisma that passes for R&B
vocalizing in the 21st century, and on these songs, he sings with the band, not
over them; his interplay with the musicians is smart and full of fire, and
whether the music suggests the Rolling Stones (“Surf”) or the Spinners
(“Keep on Shining”), he sounds well-focused and respectful of his
accompanists, who perform with a lean, determined authority on these sessions.
Soul may be Harding's strong suit, but he's not afraid to rock out on “The
Drive” and “I Don't Wanna Go Home” (guitars do dominate these
arrangements), and the engineering and production gives these tracks a natural,
spacious sound that flatters Harding and the band equally. Having worked with
OutKast and Cee Lo Green, Curtis Harding knows something about soul music in the
present as well as the past tense, and Soul Power is music that honors the rich
traditions of classic R&B while keeping its head and heart in the here and
now; some folks say you can't have it both ways, but Curtis Harding is here to
show that's a lie. – Review by Mark Deming ~ Allmusic.com