Reviewed by Lins Honeyman

Atlanta-based singer/songwriter Cody Chesnutt has had a long and sporadic career but one that has perhaps passed the majority of music lovers by. Arguably, part of the reason for this is that the experienced troubadour is almost impossible to pigeonhole and his third full length release - produced by Anthony "Twilite Tone" Khan (Kanye West, Common) - is no exception. Backed by a blend of lo-fi organic and electronic sounds, Chesnutt's packed-with-soul vocal performances endearingly sound as though they've been recorded on the hoof in some boxy little room somewhere which gives a spontaneous and intimate feel to the already fluid and experimental proceedings. There is a real feeling that vocal, lyrical, thematic, technical and musical boundaries were still being explored even after the record button had been pressed which does a give a ramshackle and ragged tone to the overall nature of the album with Chesnutt dallying with different genres to good effect - the raw ska of "Make A Better Man" and the Marvin Gaye-like soul of the abstract and shape-shifting "She Ran Away" being cases in point. Elsewhere, themes such as social power in "Africa The Future" and gun violence in the Raphael Saadiq duet "Bullets In The Streets And Blood" are covered in forefront fashion whilst Chesnutt references his Christian faith in the soulful "Have You Heard Anything From The Lord Today". Whilst this collection of disparate sketches won't be to everyone's taste, it's certainly a good way of finding out more about what the ever-inventive and intriguing Chesnutt has to offer.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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