"Come Around and Love Me" gets
Jalen Ngonda
's like-titled album debut rolling like it might split the difference between
Lamont Dozier
's "Breaking Out All Over" and something off
Marvin Gaye
's
What's Going On
. Once
Ngonda
enters with his throaty and gliding tenor, the song goes somewhere else, beyond classic-R&B pastiche, en route to the heart. Like the
Daptone
-furnished backing -- with strings, vibes, sax, and ghostly-sweet backing vocals all tastefully applied --
's lyrics are pure late-'60s/early-'70s soul, but there's lived-it conviction in his unique voice as he pleads with an unsure lover to "keep this spark in the pressure glass." While
's development has occurred without a grand plan -- the London-based Maryland native fell hard for the
Motown
sound as a youngster, and has taken it step by step from there -- he was seemingly born to make this kind of music. Given the grit in his voice and the emotion he puts into each note, it's hard to imagine him doing anything other than leaving a strongly defined imprint on the 21st century traditional R&B scene. This album just about completes the task. Produced by
Michael Buckley
and
Vincent Chiarito
,
Ikebe Shakedown
members who have further sharpened their skills backing
veteran
Charles Bradley
Come Around and Love Me
plays it straight with the idiom.
is presented clearly as a blue-collar romantic who sings affectingly about heartache and devotion, mixing common loverman declarations with enough detailed sentiments to elevate the material above merely pleasant listening. Picking singles beyond the title song couldn't have been easy, as other tracks released ahead of the LP, like the unmistakably
Smokey Robinson
-inspired "Just Like You Used To," are either matched or surpassed by deeper numbers such as the knee-weakening ballad "Lost" and driving finale "Rapture." ~ Andy Kellman