Aloe Blacc is at a crossroads. The 35-year-old Californian soul singer arrived slowly via the hip hop underground and Peanut Butter Wolf’s smart Stones Throw label, then blew up with the monster hit “I Need A Dollar”, which will surely be used as a recession anthem for decades. His next sliver of profile was as singer of Swedish EDM cheese-merchant Aviici’s chart-topping country’n’western’n’happy hardcore monstrosity “Wake Me Up”. Blacc’s new album, his third, can surely, then, be used as a guide to see which way he’s going to jump?
You’d have thought so, but the man born Egbert Dawkins III, a truly talented and conscious singer, attempts to cover all bases with uneven results. His last album was rooted in classic soul and the best of Lift Your Spirit follows that blueprint too. From the strummed acoustic country-soul version of “Wake Me Up”, proving there’s a decent song beneath all the original’s hideous production, to the melancholic penultimate number, “Ticking Time Bomb”, there’s much that’s admirable. He revels in modernist Motown pastiche in a way that’s a match for Mark Ronson’s best and “Soldier in the City” is a sharp sequel to “I Need A Dollar”, stepping classily in Marvin Gaye’s footsteps.
Blacc, unsurpisingly, wants to also try out some new ideas. The Elton John-sampling gospel-flavoured epic, “The Man”, starts well then goes over the top. That's bearable by itself, but alongside wannabe stadium singalongs such as “Here Today” and weak middle-of-the-road ballads, the album's dynamism comes unstuck. There’s a gleeful optimism thoughout that, when it occasionally works, reminds one of old-school soul’s power to move. However, more of the time it drifts into schmaltz, making the listener think of US feel-good television, Oprah Winfrey revving her audience with empowerment blah. Lift Your Spirit is a misstep, albeit with some decent bits, but I suspect Blacc will be back before long to surprise us with something unexpected and much better.
Overleaf: watch the video for "The Man"
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