Although his commercial fortunes had not yet matched theirs by the time this album was released,
James Hunter
had been promoting the revival of classic-era
soul
for a couple decades before fellow Brits
Amy Winehouse
,
Corinne Bailey Rae
, and
Joss Stone
came along. His command of the idiom has never been less than thorough and convincing -- without knowing that the songs on
The Hard Way
were newly recorded, anyone might guess that this retro feast was a long-lost gem from 1966.
Hunter
's voice is equal parts grits and silk, somewhere between
Sam Cooke
smooth and
Bobby "Blue" Bland
scorched, and his small combo of sympathetic players could easily have found work in the studios of
Hi
Stax
, or
Chess
back when this style reigned. Compared to
's last, 2006's Grammy-nominated
People Gonna Talk
, his debut for
Hear Music
, is a tad tougher -- the horns are more prominent and sharper,
's guitar has more bite to it, and the rhythms cut deeper -- and quicker; at times
veers closer to
soul-rock
than he has in the past, but he's still working well within his favorite genre.
, as always, is a riveting vocalist -- his singing grabs and never lets go. He handles both the lazy, bluesy tunes and the sweatier uptempo
R&B
with equal commitment and style, sounding as natural as can be as he tells his tales of love and the lack of it. On the slinky
blues
ballad
"'Til the End,"
one of a few tunes on which he is joined by New Orleans legend
Allen Toussaint
takes his time spilling out his doomsday scenario of a relationship gone down while the drums, bass, and horns lope along minimally. When he unfurls his brief guitar solo midway, it's economical but searing. On the rocking
"Jacqueline"
a doo-woppy chorus and squalling sax fill in the holes, and for the title track, a
Cooke
ringer, the Echo Strings add muscle and sass to the arrangement. Dancefloor denizens once ached for tunes this beat-crazy and would do well to reacquaint themselves with the real deal via
. ~ Jeff Tamarkin