Aaron Frazer
Aaron Frazer simply had to go solo at some point, said Timothy Monger in AllMusic .com. The drummer for Durand Jones & the Indications “won a lot of hearts” when the band released “Is It Any Wonder?” a 2016 track that showcases Frazer’s honeyed falsetto, and producer Dan Auerbach of the Black Keys turned out to be one of the song’s instant fans. Unlike many soul-revival projects, the 12-song set that the pair have come up with never resorts to rote imitation, thanks to “top-notch” arrangements and songcraft. Every tune “fits the ’60s/’70s vibe,” but co-writers Frazer and Auerbach load them with memorable melodies. Curtis Mayfield and Marvin Gaye will come to mind in
“Bad News,” while Frankie Valli lives on in the glorious opener, “You Don’t Wanna Be My Baby,” said Mark Kennedy in the Associated Press. “One spin and you’ll be spellbound.” Frazer and Auerbach have made “revival soul worthy of Motown and Stax. It is music to dance to, drive to, cook to—2021 starting with the coolest of highs.”
On this tribute album to a son who died too young, “the mood is surprisingly upbeat,” said Lee Zimmerman in AmericanSongwriter .com. Though alt-country rabble-rouser Steve Earle is clearly still hurting over the death in August of 38-year-old Justin Townes Earle, he and his band “emphasize energy and enthusiasm” as they run through 10 of the younger singer-songwriter’s tunes here. “That’s especially evident on such rambunctious selections as ‘I Don’t Care,’ ‘Maria,’ ‘They Killed John Henry,’ and ‘Harlem River Blues.’” The record is “not without its sobering moments,” though, including “Turn Out My Lights,” whose lyrics seem to address the troubles Justin wrestled with before his accidental overdose. “Last Words,” a Steve Earle original that closes the album, “lands with the emotional impact of a wracking sob,” said Eric Danton in PasteMagazine .com. Over spare guitar, Earle sings in his gravelly drawl about holding his newborn son, the heartache of being powerless to save him, and their final phone call: “Your last words to me were, ‘I love you, too.’”