As popular as never before, R&B genre every year brings to the market more and more new voices and faces which seem to be alike ever more. And you can’t really say anything bad about them. These folks do know how to sing. However, even in this great multitude there are those whom you can not mistake for others. One of them is an amazing American performer, Anthony Hamilton. For his forty-year age, he might have come to stardom a little bit too later than others usually do. He is not a well-promoted winner of a TV music contest; neither is he a troublemaker who, between studio releases, gets to scandalous chronicles. For quite a while, Anthony worked far from the big pop-scene, polishing his own style borrowing a lot of components from classic soul. Luckily, this singer is not only blessed with outstanding vocal abilities, but also possesses a skill to deliver the material that requires great artistry and complete commitment. In 2011, Hamilton presented his new album, Back To Love, where he once again demonstrated his incomparable talent.
Of course, Anthony’s thorough contribution in the song-writing for Back To Love did him a lot of good. It helped him play the characters of these dramatic stories even more truthfully. The most fascinating story must be Pray For Me. Gospel motives and simply, yet written from the bottom of one’s heart, lyrics, no doubt, make the listener love and believe it. Another expressive song is Mad, filled, however, with a completely different mood. Classic harmonica and hand-clapping remind us of Anthony’s addiction to music traditions of the USA South. Back To Love is at times pretty cheerful and optimistic. It is sufficient to try a great track called Woo with rather upbeat tempo and encouraging lyrics. Still, in far more cases the singer makes the audience sad. One of the examples is a ballad named Never Let Go with guest singer Keri Hilson. Heartbroken and painful is Hamilton’s voice in the touching Who’s Loving You. Another sorrowful track is Life Has A Way, the album final piece. However, the singer urges to struggle against hardships that befall everyone of us. So, nothing seems so bad in the end.
In terms of style, Back To Love seems the most manifold effort in Anthony Hamilton’s career. Whereas the CD stores enough tracks executed in Hamilton’s traditional neo-soul manner, the singer breaks the pattern more than once. Sucka For You looks to be particularly far from the original style as it steps into the dance pop area. For now, this material is not easily associated with Hamilton. There are other sings on the record which bear a strong influence of the contemporary R&B trend. Probably, it has something to do with the fact that Back To Love was prepared by several established producers who pursued their own views stubbornly. Yet the album managed to reach some coherency through the overwhelming role of Hamilton’s breathtaking voice and the common subjects in the lyrics of almost all twelve tracks. Back To Love might not be number one album in Anthony’s catalogue, but it definitely is a very impressive effort to make his discography even more interesting.
The Point Of It All
Southern Comfort
Ain't Nobody Worryin'
Soulife
Chuck 2004
This album is the Sum 41's smartest and most mature work to date. They are writing about taking responsibility for your actions and making the world a better place. Chuck also marks a musical evolution for Sum 41
