About.com Rating
Looking back, Avicii's breakthrough pop smash "Wake Me Up" was probably the best introduction to mainstream US pop audiences for Aloe Blacc. His voice is much deeper and full than that of the reigning R&B influenced male singers in the pop world. Consequently, he has been ignored by most mainstream pop radio programmers even when his song "I Need a Dollar" turned into a top 10 pop hit around the world four years ago.
However, Avicii's EDM, soul, and country blender on "Wake Me Up" was far enough removed from the usual that Aloe Blacc seemed a quite comfortable fit with the overall approach. Now that his voice is familiar, the single "The Man" has been embraced as a follow up hit, and an eager audience is waiting for the artist's major label debut on Lift Your Spirit.
Aloe Blacc's Emergence As a Singer
35 year old Panamanian-American artist Aloe Blacc began his musical career as a rapper. However, over the years he shifted toward singing, and he sings throughout his major label debut on Lift Your Spirit. Obvious comparisons can be made between the voice of Aloe Blacc and that of legendary pop-soul singer Bill Withers who gave us such classics as "Lean On Me" and "Ain't No Sunshine." A primary impact of the voice of Aloe Blacc is a sense of musical authority. That sound is needed to make a song like "The Man" work. It also allows his warnings on "Ticking Bomb" to take on real gravity. Aloe Blacc's voice heard on pop radio causes listeners to take notice.
This is a vocal style mainstream pop fans have missed for too long.
Arresting Instrumental Arrangements
For primary production on Lift Your Spirit, Aloe Blacc turned to veteran DJ Khalil. He is best known for his work with Eminem, but this album is a career tour de force for his style of instrumental arrangement. The songs are rich with orchestral instruments, backing choruses, and delicate elements that give the tracks a sonically rewarding finished feel. "The Man" is awash in horns and gospel influenced backing vocals. "Chasing" is propelled along by saxophones, trumpets, and handclapping percussion in a style that recalls a New Orleans street march. "Owe It All" blisses out on early 1970s soul style keyboards and guitar until an elegant muted trumpet closes the track.
Top Tracks On 'Lift Your Spirit'
- "The Man"
- "Love Is the Answer"
- "Chasing"
- "Owe It All"
Lyrical Weakness
Lift Your Spirit does not come without any weaknesses. The inclusion of an acoustic version of "Wake Me Up" is a bit baffling. It is interesting to hear the song in a somewhat different context, but the track sounds like something an artist would share for the fans via a YouTube video instead of shoehorning it on to an otherwise stylistically coherent album. Lyrically, much of Lift Your Spirit sounds just a little too, well, obvious. "Ticking Bomb" is heavy handed in its warnings about the demise of humanity. "The Hand Is Quicker" is filled with cliche phrases to tell the story of a lover that treated the singer wrong. "The Man" itself would flounder under its own attempts at weighty messages with a lesser vocalist.
Aloe Blacc Is An Artist To Know
Aloe Blacc is clearly an artist that mainstream pop fans should know. "The Man" is a bracing breath of fresh air at mainstream pop radio. For pop fans who can remember back to soul music of the early 1970s that reached AM radio, this album will feel like a warm return to sounds rarely heard today. Pharrell Williams' continued love affair with retro disco and soul in producing and co-writing the Stevie Wonder-ish "Love Is the Answer" fits perfectly here. Give this album a spin and it is likely to Lift Your Spirit.
Released March 2014 by Interscope