B Miguel
War & Leisure
RCA
Until War & Leisure, Pedro, Calif.'s Miguel Jontel Pimentel -- Miguel -- was an electro-soul lover man making sensual moves in the midnight hour. Though he started off needing and pleading through a conventional R&B palette with 2010's All I Want Is You, by 2015's Wildheart, Miguel was getting strange with Jim Morrison-like poetry about fantastic L.A. and weird scenes inside the gold mine to go with his robo-soul.
War & Leisure luxuriates in its spare, psychedelic edge while trading synths and sequencers for echoing guitars, and finds its crooner/songwriter trafficking, lyrically, in a lousy political and environmental climate.
Issues of immigration and inequity waft through the spacious "Now" like smog on a hot Los Angeles afternoon. The frisky funk of "Told You So" is a lover's lament that teaches with a whisper rather than preaches with a scream. That said, it's never as though Miguel has given up the slow sexy burn or the ribald come-on while addressing politics and consciousness. He's just mixing it up with sociocultural bon mots, as on the pre-sex epic "Pineapple Skies," and the fuzz-toned "City of Angels," the latter tale balancing the downright torrid with the unjustly tragic.
Hot tracks: "Now," "Told You So," "City of Angels"
-- A.D. AMOROSI
The Philadelphia Inquirer (TNS)
B Lil Wayne featuring Baby E
"XO Tour Life"
Young Money
Considering how integral Lil Wayne is to the DNA of contemporary hip-hop, he has been a ghost of late, a victim of hip-hop's rapid turnover, intractable label problems and perhaps his own boredom. His new mixtape Dedication 6, which arrived on Christmas Day, was his only full-length release in 2017.
One of the standout tracks is "XO Tour Life," his remake of Lil Uzi Vert's "XO TOUR Llif3." In the middle of his two-minute-long verse that starts the song, he raps in a skittish pattern that runs against the sprightly beat (and in a different way than Uzi did), but the opening is vintage Wayne, imagistic and clever and with some underappreciated dry wit:
"I been walkin' on this water, bone dry, hard times/R.I.P. baby, my phone died, but don't cry/Heaven's gates was closed, I went to hell, there was a long line."
-- JON CARAMANICA
The New York Times
B+ Robert Finley
Goin' Platinum!
Easy Eye Sound
Robert Finley is another exceptional blues and soul musician getting well-deserved attention at an age when talent contests aren't likely to consider him, whether it's his hair that's gone platinum or his new album.
Which is a real pity, since the 64-year-old Louisiana native is a gem of a singer -- rough and refined -- who lends instant credibility to any song.
"Get It While You Can" drafts the tonal blueprint for Finley's second record -- reverbed, scratchy guitars, handsome horns, sweet backup vocals, perfectly deft percussion and tasteful piano and organ sounds.
Produced and co-written by Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys, it includes legendary Memphis musicians Bobby Wood and Gene Chrisman, who backed Elvis Presley, Dusty Springfield and Aretha Franklin. Recorded swiftly at Auerbach's Nashville studio, the freshness of the grooves on the 10 tunes is infectious.
"Honey, Let Me Stay the Night" is an energetic slice of life echoing a 1960s beach party, except this one's in a swamp, while "You Don't Have to Do Right" has the spirit of Richie Havens and a cavernous Duane Eddy guitar solo.
On "Real Love Is Like Hard Time," co-written by Nick Lowe, Finley has the swagger of Tom Jones, and "Medicine Woman" sounds like a long-lost Bobby Bland side. Finley's soaring falsetto on closer "Holy Wine" makes for a moving trip down memory lane.
Finley has had his share of hardships -- he is now legally blind and unable to work as a carpenter anymore -- but if there are similar albums in his future, may they all go platinum.
Hot tracks: "You Don't Have to Do Right," "Real Love Is Like Hard Time," "Holy Wine"
-- PABLO GORONDI
The Associated Press
B Elton John
Diamonds
Rocket/UME
A new package of singer-songwriter Elton John's greatest hits, this two CD set has songs you probably already have on other compilations. However, this one's a little deeper in terms of its reach. While tunes like "Rocket Man," "Crocodile Rock," "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" and "Candle in the Wind" dominate, there are some lesser-known gems here, too.
One of the best is "Are You Ready for Love?" which found John in the classic, lush Philly sound of the 1970s. The track is part of The Thom Bell Sessions EP, produced by Bell, best known for his work with The Stylistics ("You Are Everything") and The Spinners ("Could It Be I'm Falling in Love").
Other gems include the haunting ballad "Blue Eyes," a duet of "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" with George Michael and "Song for Guy."
Hot tracks: "Rocket Man," "Candle in the Wind," "Are You Ready for Love," "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me"
-- ELLIS WIDNER
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Style on 01/09/2018