{"id":6536,"date":"2014-10-16T12:06:57","date_gmt":"2014-10-16T16:06:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/?p=6536"},"modified":"2014-10-16T12:06:57","modified_gmt":"2014-10-16T16:06:57","slug":"album-review-caleb-hawley","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2014\/10\/16\/album-review-caleb-hawley\/","title":{"rendered":"Album Review: Caleb Hawley"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

While it might come off a bit melodramatic to say so, sometimes I experience some emotional rollercoasterism when receiving new music in my mailbox. Case in point: not long ago I went outside to collect the mail, only to find a box leaned up against my front door (it wouldn’t fit in the mailbox). The familiar cardboard dimensions \u2013 a bit over 12\u201d x 12\u201d \u2013 made all but certain that it was vinyl.<\/p>\n

I love<\/em> vinyl.<\/p>\n

The return address indicated that said package was shipped to me from a publicist in whom I trust, one with whom I share similar musical tastes; further, she\u201dgets\u201d my specific likes and dislikes, and tends to steer toward me music that is likely to get a fair listen. She turned me on to The Explorers Club<\/strong><\/a>, in fact. In short, a professional.<\/p>\n

I took the package inside and opened it. What I found was a record with cover art as you see above. A guy who looks a bit like Noah Wyle<\/strong>, the actor who rose to fame on ER<\/em>. My first thought was, \u201cOh. A singer songwriter.\u201d<\/p>\n

My heart sank<\/em>.<\/p>\n

But knowing the publicist as I do, I was more than willing to give the record a spin. How bad could it be? So I removed the shrink wrap and put the vinyl platter on the turntable. The first track, \u201cWould You Even Try,\u201d blasted out of the speakers.<\/p>\n

I was thrilled<\/em>.<\/p>\n

And so it goes. One can’t always judge an LP by its cover. The self-titled debut from Minneapolis-born Caleb Hawley<\/strong> has much more in common with, say, Mayer Hawthorne<\/strong><\/a> \u2013 another white guy who creates authentic, heartfelt soul music \u2013 than any navel-gazing, overly precious singer-songwriter.<\/p>\n

\u201cWould You Even Try\u201d has slinky, soulful guitar riffs and thundering bass as its foundation, but Hawley’s strong voice \u2013 supported by hot Latin-flavored percussion, bright horn charts and subtle Motown-styled strings \u2013 is the focus here. It’s undeniably retro, and it’s also exciting as hell.<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes a Good Feeling (Just Can’t Last)\u201d is another pop delight. It’s as strong as any soul\/r&b 45 from the early 70s. The sax work and female vocal chorus are standout elements, but it’s a deftly executed tune all around.<\/p>\n

Hawley slows things waaay<\/em> down for \u201cI Just Want You,\u201d heading for a gospel-flavored Wilson Pickett<\/strong> style. The thrill quotient is lower, but that’s clearly by design. Hawley’s neo-soul approach here is reminiscent of James Morrison<\/strong><\/a>‘s debut (let’s hope Hawley can maintain the quality of his music, a feat Morrison hasn’t quite been able to master).<\/p>\n

While \u201cWhen My Baby’s Gone\u201d is a fine tune, here Hawley oversteps the boundaries just a bit: the tune is a too-direct lift of The Supremes<\/strong>‘ \u201cYou Can’t Hurry Love.\u201d The not-exactly-original lyric \u201cjust my imagination running wild\u201d doesn’t help things, either. Still, let’s give Hawley a one-time pass on this one: Mayer Hawthrone gave us a similar product with A Strange Arrangement<\/em>‘s \u201cYour Easy Lovin’ Ain’t Pleasin’ Nothin’,\u201d and he’s done okay for himself since.<\/p>\n

Some tasty Memphis-styled guitar funk forms the basis of \u201cCrying Wolf.\u201d On \u201cLet a Little Love In,\u201d Hawley and his players build the song around some lovely piano work; the resullt feels like Tapestry<\/em>-era Carole King<\/strong>, and that’s never, ever a bad thing.<\/p>\n

The vocal chorus fades slowly in on \u201cMy Hell,\u201d a tune much more upbeat than its title might suggest. Hawley’s impassioned delivery is heightened by massed handclaps moving the tune along. The drum corps intro of \u201cLittle Miss Sunshine\u201d is fascinating, and it leads into a slinky dim-the-lights-baby jam.<\/p>\n

\u201cBada Boom, Bada Bling\u201d puts the focus more on the instrumentation. Wahwah guitars and a super-funky beat make the tune; the melody isn’t as strong as most of what’s on Caleb Hawley<\/em>, but perhaps as a dance floor number it works.<\/p>\n

A few odd production choices mar \u201cLong Life,\u201d and the seemingly autobiographical lyrics detract from the fun a bit. Too gimmicky by half, it’s the album’s weakest track, and sticks out like a sore thumb ion an otherwise fine disc.<\/p>\n

Hawley gets back on solid footing with the Earth, Wind & Fire<\/strong>-styled \u201cGive it Away.\u201d His command of falsetto is impressive; it’s a testament to his (or someone’s) restraint that the vocal technique isn’t splashed all over the album. Leaving ’em wanting more is always a good strategy for a performer new to the scene. Musically, it feels not unlike something Michael Jackson<\/strong> might’ve done in the mid 1980s.<\/p>\n

Caleb Hawley<\/em> wraps up with \u201cFind It,\u201d a number that starts out understated, only to unfold halfway through as a pull-out-all-the-stops big finish. Vocals and instruments go all-in here, and \u201cFind It\u201d sounds to these ears like the perfect live set closer. It fulfills that role equally well on this album.<\/p>\n

Perhaps a bit oddly, Hawley initially released an EP called Side 1<\/em>; his latest short-form release is \u2013 wait for it \u2013 Side 2<\/em>. The first focused on 60s styles, while the second has a more (but not too<\/em>) contemporary feel. His self-titled vinyl LP includes both sides, and it’s the way to go.<\/p>\n

In the future, when and if I receive a package indicting Caleb Hawley’s involvement, I’ll be expecting good things.<\/p>\n

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While it might come off a bit melodramatic to say so, sometimes I experience some emotional rollercoasterism when receiving new music in my mailbox. Case in point: not long ago […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49,60,65,69,73],"tags":[450],"class_list":["post-6536","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-new-release","category-rb","category-review","category-soul","category-vinyl","tag-caleb-hawley","cat-49-id","cat-60-id","cat-65-id","cat-69-id","cat-73-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6536","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6536"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6536\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6536"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6536"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6536"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}