In addition to his work as a background vocalist for a bunch of gospel and R&B legends,
Loren Oden
has been an essential player on many
Adrian Younge
projects dating back to the producer's score for
Black Dynamite
. An
Oden
-
Younge
highlight reel would have to include
's "Shot Me in the Heart,"
Venice Dawn
's "Turn Down the Sound,"
Bilal
's "Money Over Love," and
the Midnight Hour
's "There Is No Greater Love," just for starters.
also co-wrote some of those songs, foreshadowing what he could do as a lead artist. For
My Heart, My Love
, his first album, he gets
's deluxe Linear Labs Studio package. In his workshop of vintage gear,
produces, engineers, co-writes, and provides almost all the instrumentation, and calls upon familiar collaborators such as
Raphael Saadiq
,
Ali Shaheed Muhammad
, and
Jack Waterson
to pitch in a little. Tautly arranged duets and group background vocalists are common on
productions, but they're limited this time to a number featuring
Estelle
(which doesn't generate nearly as much heat as, say,
and
Karolina
's connection on
's "Feel Alive"). With very rare exception, the only voice is that of
, fronting everything and often supporting himself, adept as ever at switching between expressions of love, grief, consolation, and devotion with little evident exertion. On much of his best earlier work,
was basically playing roles, so it's gratifying to hear him go in a personal direction to ardent effect. The tenderest and most open song of all is "Words to Say," a glowing ballad showcasing
's upper register atop an 808 drum pattern, strings, and the singer's sensitive Fender Rhodes vamp. "Don't Be," sweet as can be with a tipsy gait, is something like a dream
Brothers Johnson
/
D'Angelo
crossover. Most of the rest offers slight variations of
's filmic, hip-hop-minded take on late-'60s/early-'70s psychedelic soul, exemplified here by the romantic "Galaxies," the appreciative "Queen," and the Brazilian-tinged glider "Is There a Way." ~ Andy Kellman