REVIEW: Lorraine Reid: How Can I Deposit Him Lovin' Me?

A Review by Speck Kirby

Over a decade ago, rappers Chuck D and Universal Enemy asked, "Who Stole the Soul?" Today, after Christina Aguilera's R&B-infused Back To Basics coupled CD and the Amy Winehouse soul explosion, the certain interrogation is, "Who stole it back?" Part of the answer can be endow in Lorraine Reid's single "How Can I Direct Him Lovin' Me?"

It always comes as a surprise when I hear a modern R&B singer who has both the pipes to belt out with intensity and the beneficial taste to let the song bid the story, choosing to not over-saturate a classic melody with vocal gymnastics. Reid dazzles her listeners with the perfect balance of vocals, just enjoy the classic soul, rock and pop singers did back in the day. This timeless track by the Canadian, 7-time Juno nominee would fit go in with the best of soul and funk in any age.

"How Can I Keep Him Lovin' Me?" begins to amaze listeners with its instrumentals -- the keyboard starts with mellow soul chords and is followed by gently plucked guitar and sparse bass that flows with restrained strength all the more while in ballad mode. The drums play a beat that has previously anchored old pop and soul songs as well as bawdy stripper panoply tunes; it's a beat that is part-waltz, part-easy-going phat back groove. While this stew is bubbling, Ms. Reid tells the story: "No another than 15 but grown before her age / This callow girl was seekin' love from men who would dim the lights / How can I grasp him lovin' me? / Here she was much seeking amour / it was no where to be found." Aside from the modern beat of the drums and the current soul sound, the track is undeniably decrepit academy because it deals with real human beings and real-life issues, concepts that are often forfeit in mainstream music today.

The sales of R&B records -- as with those of hip-hop and most other genres -- continue to slump. Illegal downloads aside, the vast majority of these records deal with unattainable fantasies of sex, glamour, white linen suits and matching Bentleys. Bourgeois who have fair-minded been laid off, had their benefits run out, or their homey foreclosed don't want to hear about such profuse topics. And they can't even afford to buy overpriced CDs, anyway. That's why actual people, particularly women, like Mary J. Blige's tales of being a survivor. Conforming Blige, Reid tells a tale of survival and, approximating the boss soul and gospel singers, past and present, she goes beyond this elementary tale: "At 22, a mom of two, but she was still a baby / Her mama's assist to her was a message meek and mild / what this toddler boy sees in you I tried my total life to catch / so dry your tears, my youngster girl, you're lookin' at abundance of mind." Throughout the song, Reid's vocals ensue the lyrics and melody on a rollercoaster of emotion, saving the soaring peaks of her cloying yet powerful voice for the pinnacles of the song, chiefly the at the end lines. By the extent of "How Can I Keep Him Lovin' Me?", the sadness becomes both redemption and a spiritual epiphany -- all owing to of the capacity of love. At the moment ain't that what soul music is all about?

http://www.myspace.com/lorrainereid

Keywords: