Pros: That Voice. The meaty, neo-soul. "Power To The People." The duet with LeAnn Rimes.
Cons: A bit spotty at times.
The Bottom Line: Marc Broussard is one of America's most gifted musicians. He posesses a slinky, raspy voice that just seems to get better with each recording.
MattBjorke's Full Review: Keep Coming Back * by Marc Broussard
From the moment I heard "Just Like That" from Marc Broussard on a Lost Highway "Lost & Found" compilation, I was hooked on the voice. Since Then, Marc Broussard's largely been known as a man behind the smashingly successful delta blues rock track "Home" which sounded out of place on the otherwise mainstream soul record "Carencro." After parting ways with Island Records, Marc made the wonderful soul record "S.O.S. (Save Our Soul)" and while they were straight-up renditions of classic R&B, the songs, once again, showed off Broussard's vocal chop. While still working in Korea, I noticed that Marc had recorded and released an EP of songs for his new label, Atlantic Records. The folks running Atlantic were the folks who signed Broussard to Island back in the day. Now free to record anything he wanted, Marc went into the studio with his production team of Calvin Turner (a band member) and Justin Tocket.
Leading off "Keep Coming Back" is the horn-laced, Temptations-like title track. It's funky, sexual and just a plain slice of ear candy. The fact that the song references classic soul tracks of the 1970s immediately should make it sound like some white-bread knock-off but the song doesn't. "Hard Knocks" has the sound of "What's Goin' On" era Marvin Gaye. Again, this could be a problem for many neo-soul artists but Broussard and his band sound completely invested in this recording. It also helps that Broussard and his producers chose to record this album the old-fashioned way, with vintage analog reel to reel tape. There's a strong political message in another Temptations-worthy track: "Power To The People." It's the kind of interesting, bipartisan political song that often gets lost in a sea of partisanship.
There are a pair of "duets" on the record and the first of them is The sunny 80s Lionel Ritchie-like "Why Should She Wait." Sarah Bareilles is the guest voice on this track and she helps give Broussard the singer-songwriter vibe he sometimes has. LeAnn Rimes guests on "When It's Good," a surprisingly effective mix of soul and country that shows how well these two supremely talented singers sound together. The track is a repayment of sorts from Rimes as Broussard sang a duet on her 2007 disc "Family." This track certainly stands out as a highlight, particularly when you consider that both vocalists often rise above their material and production choices.
Superstar country songwriter Radney Foster (who often works with producer Justin Tocket) co-wrote two tracks on the disc, "Another Night Alone" and "Saying I Love You" and both tracks feature his undeniable lyrical stamp, which isn't to say that the songs are even remotely country. One song that feels pretty "country" is "Going Home," the pseudo album closer as Broussard has once again attached a 'hidden track' onto the end of the record in the form of the acoustic ballad for his daughter, Evangeline Rose.
While "Keep Coming Back" isn't the album all Broussard faithful know he has in him (Just see him live and you'll know what I mean), it's still a very strong album. Broussard is one of the best 'unknown' artists in the business and someday, hopefully, a song of his will really captivate the American audience to show what a true, autotune-less artist sounds like.
Epinions.com periodically updates pricing and product information from third-party sources, so some information may be slightly out-of-date. You should confirm all information before relying on it.
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.