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BUY THE CD
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Everything old really is new again. As soon as Amy Winehouse’s Back to Black hit the airwaves last year, it opened the doors to a flood of soulful artists inspired by classic Motown sounds—artists like British newcomer Bryn Christopher.
For the most part, Christopher’s four-track EP, The Quest, is an impressive introduction to a stylishly soulful new artist. The disc begins with the title track, which was quite obviously inspired by Christopher’s recent gig opening for a leg of Winehouse’s 2007 tour. In fact, as it opens with its organ music and scratchy percussion, you’ll almost expect Winehouse’s smoky voice to start singing “You Know I’m No Good.” Instead, Christopher makes his entrance, sounding like a strangely captivating mix of Otis Redding and…Tina Turner (trust me—it may not sound like it, but that’s a good thing).
The EP also includes an acoustic remix of “The Quest,” which, in its stripped-down version, does get a bit screechy. But at least it still has that cool, Motown style—and that’s still good enough for me.
Unfortunately, The Quest has more than just a bit of screechiness to worry about. The second track, “Take Me Over,” is such a mess that I had to force myself to listen to it a second time. Musically, it’s all over the place—and the music and lyrics go together about as well as stripes and plaids. In the end, it feels like an accident—like someone replaced the real track with a recording of Christopher messing around in the studio—and no one caught the mistake until it was too late.
But, fortunately, the next track, “My World,” manages to make up it. Once again, it’s all over the place musically—but, this time, it’s all over the place in a good way. The music and the lyrics come together just right, resulting in a catchy Motown-style tune that I could listen to over and over, all day long.
The verdict: two and a half tracks out of four ain’t bad for a newcomer. Christopher’s sound is a great mix of old and new. It’s catchy and hip and soulful and upbeat—and I can’t wait to hear what’s in store when he releases his full-length debut album early in 2009. In the meantime, I recommend downloading MP3s of both “The Quest” and “My World.” The rest, however, you can probably do without.
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