Graham Reid | | <1 min read
Let It Ride
Some artists have a style so distinctive they become an adjective: Dylanesque and Lennonesque (the the manner of Bob and John respectively), Waitsean (after Tom) and so on.
Such descriptors provide a convenient shorthand.
One of the most -esque/-ean/-like artists has been Lenny Kravitz who has the uncanny ability to appropriate from myriad sources (Prince, Marvin Gaye, Hendrix) and fashion them into a distinctive and popular career.
He's often seemed the triumph of style over originality but there's no denying his successes.
No one would accuse him of breaking the mould or announcing “I hope you like my new direction” with this 12th album under his name, it is more of the same.
That same being slick allusions to sultry soul (It's Just Fine Day in This Universe of Love), dirty soul-funk (the Prince meets James Brown on TK421), sophisticated soul balladry (Honey), hard rock (Paralyzed) and so on.
No wheel here needed reinventing, no barriers hurdled or envelopes pushed.But then again, no one comes to Kravitz for such things.
Highly accomplished genre music from someone who is an accumulation of adjectives.
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You can hear this album at Spotify here.
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