Album cover for Lift Your Spirit.
He gets immediate points off for including a non-EDM version of one of the most annoying tracks of 2013, but the rest of this major-label debut sees Aloe Blacc deliver pretty much what he purports in the title - to Lift Your Spirit.
It's not so much that the more
folky version of Wake Me Up - which Blacc co-wrote for Avicii, and sang the vocals on - is overtly awful, but it doesn't really have any place on this album, which sees Blacc still crossing between soul, funk, RnB and hip-hop as he did on his triumphant album Good Things (2010).
This time, though, Blacc has more of a pop ambitions.
There's nothing with the grit and edgy-HBO-appeal of I Need A Dollar, but The Man manages to combine a certain hip hop swagger with its heralding trumpets, and a chorus hook borrowed from Elton John, all the while showcasing his rich-as-molasses vocal chops. Soldier In The City, is a solid slice of disco funk, and Can You Do This is bold and snappy, fun for the dance-floor.
There's also a few more pop-oriented tracks which pretty well hit their mark.
Here Today is full of positive affirmation and lighter-waving moments, and like the title track's funky gospel-esque singalong, it makes one think of the closing credits to a rom-com where everything works out for the best, or maybe an upcoming animated film teaching kids some solid life lessons.
