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2:35 PM
09/03/2003 6:00 PM, Yahoo! Music
Dan Leroy
Crowded with more indistinguishable wannabes than the Democratic presidential field, the neo-soul ranks beg for someone--anyone--to think of a new angle besides the usual Gaye and Hathaway impressions. On his sophomore set, former Undercover frontman Calvin Richardson stands out by reaching farther into the past than his '70s-worshipping peers. The first two tracks, "Keep On Pushin'" and "Falling Out," have the sort of finger-snapping swing seldom heard in the boom-bap era, summoning the ghosts of Sam Cooke and Otis Redding with class. But beneath the sumptuous vocal arrangements Richardson surrounds himself with on those songs and throughout, he struggles to make his own voice heard, despite an abundance of reverence and talent. Ironically, the tune that really does the trick is the one that owes least to bygone days: "You Got Me High," with its hip-hop cameo from Slum Village and creeping synth-bass line, is supremely spacey chill-out music that suggests Richardson's future lies more in the future than the past.
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