OK - I KNOW this Album was released in late 2017 - but seeing as I didn't have the Blog up and running for the Best Of 2017 I thought i'd include a few that would have gone into that list.
Anyone who knows me will have realised by now I like bit of Soul. Not your processed pop R&B that has mutilated the charts for the last 10+ years. No, I like my Soul Old School. Taking it's inspiration from it's 60s & 70s heydays when it was as innovative as any Prog Band of the time.
There are a few really good artists but I think Curtis Harding has the chops and attitude that raises him above the rest.
Soul Power - Curtis' first solo album was released to critical acclaim in 2014.
Face Your Fear is a Soul Powerhouse of an album. As many of the classic Soul albums of old, it covers several styles over its two sides. It kicks of with the smouldering Wednesday Morning Atonement - which highlights Curtis' soaring falsetto. Non compromising, an arrow straight to your soul.
The title track Face Your Fear is slow and slinky - with that choppy Soul guitar and sympathetic strings.
After lulling you into a false sense of security with the first two tracks of reflective beauty Curtis picks up the pace for track 3 with the upbeat On and On with it's girlie backing vocals and insistent Soul beat. 'I gotta get into this Groove' indeed.
Go As You Are takes Curtis in a different direction yet again. It has a spacey, psychedelic vibe with Curtis providing an almost confessional vocal over the echoes and Wah Wahs.
Til The End could almost be the theme song for a 70s Blaxploitation movie. Marvellous stuff.
Next up is probably the most commercial track on the album, Need Your Love, a gorgeous slice of Soul loveliness that gets your foot tapping from the off and doesn't let up for a second. It really is so simple and so fabulously effective. 3 minutes of total class.
Dream Girl is another spacey, slinky song with Curtis giving it his full falsetto croon.
Welcome To MY World changes the sound yet again with it's acoustic backing and 60s keyboard textures providing the backdrop to Curtis' fabulous voice.
Ghost Of You is very much in the same vein as the previous track but includes layers of backing vocals and more string touches.
Need My Baby sounds as if it has been directly lifted from one of those classic 70s Soul albums I mentioned earlier.
The closer As I Am could have come right from the Best Of Marvin Gaye Songbook. Yes, it's that good. A slow burner of a track with brass and string touches throughout. A classy ending to one classy album.
Curtis has released a new song in 2018 - It's Not Over - check it out.
If you have a spare 72 minutes to spend and you've enjoyed what you've heard so far - check out this show. It's an excellent concert and shows just how good Curtis Harding is. He's one artist I have yet to see live. I hope to sort this out in the future.
Twitter - @Curtis_Harding
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