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PART III-Blossom: Rampant Sensuality. Serious Artist. (Reviewing Rahsaan Patterson's After Hours)Jun 13 '04 (Updated Jul 31 '04) Write an essay on this topic.
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The Bottom Line This is an album you all should have if you are a soul music fan!
PREAMBLE After Hours is a long time coming. It has been 5 long years since Love In Stereo and Rahsaan Patterson’s reputation has grown, his touring (with the likes of Lalah Hathaway and Rachelle Ferrell) has grown ever more impressive, and, sadly, he has only given us soundtrack singles. Great, to be sure, but not a full-bodied look into where he is now. Having been dropped by the idiots at MCA for not connecting with the fickle minds of teenyboppers and soul purists who wouldn’t really know talent if it weren’t carefully delineated in the five words of Marvin, Stevie, Aretha, Donny and Teddy, this album was released by Dome Records in the UK and can be purchased (and SHOULD BE PURCHASED) on Amazon.UK for 10 British dollars. Fact is, purists are the ones who’ve failed Rahsaan, because unlike the drivel that spills from all these wannabe lover men and the bourgeois “empowerment” of the sistahs, Rahsaan’s music is, first and foremost, his own. He doesn’t feel the need to call the past and his culture in lyric and image. He simply, for the lack of a more descriptive term, is. Listening to Rahsaan's latest opus, After Hours and contemplating the various connotations of the album title (as one should with an appropriate album title), it becomes painfully obvious that there was a dimension missing from his previous work. Sensuality. Which is not to say that his earlier work is lacking in any way. His earlier songs are just constructed differently. They have a different purpose. So perhaps, “absent” is a better word than missing. Because you can’t miss what wasn’t really there, huh? But Rahsaan Patterson and Love In Stereo are successful, brilliant exercises in distancing oneself from the art. Songs like The Moment and Come Over, from his first two albums, are sensual, but they are more about innuendo then feeling...nothing inherently wrong with that. Not so, with After Hours. Rahsaan has crafted an album of stunning soulful sensuality. His plaintive whine, graciously controlled shouts, and his spare use of his lower register allow him to dissect his desire, his passion, and his insecurities. And he seems to revel in this newfound comfort with expressing his sensual side. The album is noticeably more up-tempo than his previous albums. So Hot, written with longtime collaborator Jamey Jaz, is the exact opposite of songs like Come Over. There is a forcefulness in the lyrics that was completely absent in his other work, From across the room/You caught my eye/And that’s why I’m bout to take it there. Gone is the man who seemed to extol the virtues of sex and love from a distance. This song is a joyful, sonic journey about how intensely Rahsaan feels. It’s short on metaphor and long on raw passion. And there’s an amazing little breakdown that’ll be sure to have you on your feet. Don’t Run So Fast is the other Jamey Jaz collabo and it’s a ballad. It’s the only straight ballad on the album. It’s a song reminiscing about youth. It’s got the powerful string section, similar to Charlie Chaplin’s Smile in mood. It’s a cautionary tale about life. Rahsaan allows his voice to take on a weary wistfulness that he’s never before employed. It’s a standout for that reason alone. The Van Hunt collabos are a treat once again. Its worth noting that Van Hunt provides Rahsaan with a different kind of material than he did on Love In Stereo. Here the work is detailed, controlled and passionate, but decidedly more lush, less ornate (or showy) in their instrumentation than the Love In Stereo sessions. Separate and Loving You are the mid-tempos. Separate is about the decision to break up. Its mid-tempo, yes, but there is nothing joyous about the song. There is a bitterness to it. Rahsaan’s voice is “dirty.” He sounds trapped in his lower register, causing the tone in his voice to evoke pure pain. It gives the song an interesting dimension. Loving You is notable for how well both Van Hunt and Rahsaan’s voices complement each other. This song features Rahsaan singing in a higher register and it’s about sex as love. Love you hard and fast, he says. The song has a nice little bass line and a killer melody. The other two Van Hunt collabos, Burnin' and The Best are as different as they are alike. Both are slow jam masterpieces, but each is strikingly different in mood and texture. Burnin’ is raw sensuality at its most potent. Rahsaan uses his falsetto on the verses and then goes a bit higher for the adlibs adding a wild unhinged sexuality to the song. The Best details the regret of a man trying so hard and love not really working out. If I can't get the best from you/Then I guess goodbye is the best thing I can do encapsulates Rahsaan's feeling of unrequited love. The soft, yet purposeful percussiveness of the piano accompaniment, Rahsaan's vocal dexterity and a gorgeous hook make for a stunning song that perfectly describes that feeling of leaving when you really don’t want to. Yeah Yeah Yeah is unlike anything Rahsaan's ever recorded. It relies almost entirely on his flawless falsetto for its emotion. In the past Rahsaan used his falsetto sparingly, but here it anchors the song. It creates an element of shock, like he never understood before the intensity of his passion. Don't wanna end up lovin' the way I feel/Sun is shine/Sticky appeal/One touch leads to much/You know the deal. The hook continues this wide-eyed display of sexual awakening. The repetition finds Rahsaan convincing himself of the rightness of his passion. ADDENDUM--Or it could be about getting high. Just occurred to me. Of the rest, You Make Life So Good has appeared on the Brown Sugar Soundtrack. It’s got a wide-open feel. Like it was recorded out in the open. Its airy quality adds to the theme. April’s Kiss has a similar feel. The One For Me features vocals similar to the work on Love In Stereo and I Always Find Myself has a groove that is so infectious that the lyrics become nearly secondary. And finally, the hidden track Straighten It Out is another banger. With After Hours, Rahsaan has moved solidly into his own identity. His work on this album is very similar to his live performances. The songs sound lived in, grounded, and like they beg to be performed live. Having finally seen Rahsaan Patterson live, it is a relief to know that he can add this live element to his work and feels comfortable doing so. His comfort with being sensual and overtly sexual is evident on every single track, save Don’t Run So Fast. The album is more “grown-up” than his previous work because he explores passion (So Hot and Yeah Yeah Yeah) and heartbreak (Separate and The Best) with a newfound complexity and sincerity that was absent in his previous work, but wasn’t really apparent until this release. If Rahsaan Patterson was a tentative opening of the artistic door and Love In Stereo was a confident stride through it, then After Hours is the firm handshake to everyone in the room that lets them know you came into the room to do business and are more than prepared. 5 stars. STANDOUTS—In reality every song is flawless, but here goes anyway…So Hot, Yeah Yeah Yeah, The One For Me and Loving You PART II--Maturation: Supreme Confidence PART I--Inception: Nascent Genius. Controlled Intensity  |
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