See More Your browser does not support the audio element. Without the many concrete references to the great R&B music of the past, Acoustic Soul would be a purely modern gem, but as Arie is determined to pay her debts up front, it's much more, and that is admirable. The album-matching folio to this singer/songwriter/guitarists. Betraying youthful vulnerability while at the same time projecting strength, confidence, and uncanny insight for a 25-year-old singer/songwriter, Arie wraps herself effortlessly around the deep, funky sensuality of 'Brown Skin,' and stands tall in defiance of pop-fashion expectations on the irresistibly catchy 'Video.' The uplifting 'Faith, Courage, Wisdom' rides along on a euphoric chorus, and the plainly autobiographical 'Back to the Middle' recounts an emotional and spiritual coming of age. Read reviews from world’s largest community for readers. And despite the uniqueness of being a guitar-based R&B album, it is Arie's thick, sandy voice that shares star billing with her exceptional lyrics. When she name-checks those artists no longer with us that she claims as influences (Ma Rainey, Miles Davis, Karen Carpenter, Charley Patton, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Donny Hathaway, etc.) in three separate interludes, you have no doubt she is looking back as well as forward, even going so far as to invoke Sam Cooke's 'A Change Is Gonna Come.' But Acoustic Soul is at its best when the arrangements are deliberately modern. Buy the album Starting at 11.79€Īs one of the most promising neo-soul artists yet to emerge in the past few years, India.Arie casts her lot with the best artists of her label's storied history, playing deeply introspective songs laced with glistening acoustic guitar, churchy organ, and smooth, supple beats. Recently in black America, I hosted a meeting for the VSB x Mahogany Books (a black bookstore in Washington, D.C.) Monthly Book Club where we discussed the book, She Begat This: 20 Years of The. Purchase and download this album in a wide variety of formats depending on your needs.

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