Search - Eli (Paperboy) Reed :: Come And Get It

Someone To Keep An Eye On

Andre S. Grindle | Brewer Maine | 08/14/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"During an era when every year or so there seems to be someone mining the retro soul movement there doesn't seem to be any room for any new and innovative stars in a genre where by it's very nature innovation it's almost a contradiction in terms. Standing out in this area largely depends on the personality of the artist in question. And here in Eli 'Paperboy' Reed we have an artist and performer with plenty to stand out about. Nevermind he already had a very impressive debut with Roll with You but there are absolutely no chances of any sophmore slump here at all. In fact,if the cards are set where they seem to be we're dealing with a serious contender here with a lot of possibility. What makes Reed stand out is not the fact that he's recycling a music whose time has already come and gone simply to cash in on a trend or to misinterpret it's intentions. He's also not especially interested in making condescending nods to contemporary dance and/or hip-hop music just to up his credibilit among media cliques. The production style he's chosen for this album is simply incredible for another thing. More often than none retro soul albums either rely on a collection of samples or a small rhythm section. Much as with his similarly themed contemprary Robin Thicke,Reed believes strongly in actually producing his records with the horn and rhythm section blending beautifully with strong percussive touches on songs such as "Name Calling","Just Like Me",the amazing title song and "Young Girl". These are the type of productions and songwriting I haven't honestly heard the likes of much outside of people such as Motown's "Corperation" (songwriters for the Jackson 5) or the Hayes-Porter writing production team at Stax. Not only that but modern digital production allows Reed to be able to exercise his talents as a musical craftsman. Another thing is that Reed is an absolutely incredible guitar player and vocalist. On both ends he manages to mingle sensativity and blunt intensity with a strong sense of elegence and sophistication. This comes through most obviously on the urban bluesy styled soul of "You Can Run On" and the old Atlantic style soul ballad "Pick Your Battles" where he showcases a mature and open stance on romanance and interpersonal relationships as opposed to something too confrontational or goody two-shoes. The album ends on an explosive,JB styled drum break led funk jam of of "Explosion" where Reed's growling,crooning and shrieking vocal range flies into overdrive for ultimate effect. I am not sure at this point if this album will have the same kind of commercial viability that Amy Winehouse had with Back to Black or something like that but it's a different sound-a different kind of album than that and one could easily assume from hearing this and other albums like it that the future of the retro soul sound could be a move towards the streamlined,sophisticated productions that allow all high quality music to have real staying power."