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PJ Morton isn’t yet a household name. He has lent his work to a number of major artists in recent years, including India.Aire, LL Cool J, and gospel singer DeWayne Woods, among others. He’s also faithfully studied the magic of Stevie Wonder and The Beatles, working throughout his catalog to create a bridge between pop-oriented rock and soul, and earning a faithful following. Still, he’s best known as being the sole black boy jamming on the organ behind Maroon 5, like Billy Preston did with the Fab Four. His independent albums have all garnered lots of attention from soul purists, but at the core he’s still the proverbial lounge act awaiting that big teleportation into the mainstream. His fourth indie solo effort, Walk Alone was a hell of a good album to launch into the masses, but without a major distributor and a top-notch promo team it never got the legs it deserved.
PJ Morton isn’t yet a household name. He has lent his work to a number of major artists in recent years, including India.Aire, LL Cool J, and gospel singer DeWayne Woods, among others. He’s also faithfully studied the magic of Stevie Wonder and The Beatles, working throughout his catalog to create a bridge between pop-oriented rock and soul, and earning a faithful following. Still, he’s best known as being the sole black boy jamming on the organ behind Maroon 5, like Billy Preston did with the Fab Four. His independent albums have all garnered lots of attention from soul purists, but at the core he’s still the proverbial lounge act awaiting that big teleportation into the mainstream. His fourth indie solo effort, Walk Alone was a hell of a good album to launch into the masses, but without a major distributor and a top-notch promo team it never got the legs it deserved. But his resume and worth ethic didn’t go unnoticed, which leads us into Morton’s strongest foray into notoriety: Following My First Mind, his first collection of songs released since joining up with Cash Money Records, the music home that Lil’ Wayne built.
Never mind the fact that he’s a preacher’s kid; Morton is now signed with the hottest rap label in the country. Let out a sigh of relief: So far, Weezy’s bad ass antics haven’t slipped into the clean-cut soul singer’s public persona, but the music is starting to slightly change directions. Still, there are moments consistent with early Morton efforts. “Heavy,” a Raphael Saadiq-like revival throwback that struts its shuffle like a Sunday morning church devotional, gets a little vocal reverb action, raucous rock guitar and some Billy Preston organ magic. Maroon 5 frontman Adam Levine joins in the joyous celebration, giving the song a little more fun rebellion to play with. Tidbits of Morton’s trademark organic soul is also present on the Jazmine Sullivan duet “Built for Love,” a ballad echoing Walk Alone’ssweet romantics.
There are also some less sweet moments. On “Lover,” Morton reminds his listeners that he’s a “lover, not a fighter.” But once again, Lil Wayne, being the mighty rhyme spitter he is, takes total ownership of the song, eclipsing Morton’s laidback and somber ode to Drake-ism. There are also a few problems with the closing duet “Saying Hello”: Guest singer Chantae Cann doesn’t get the kind of equal airtime Sullivan received; instead her summer breeze pops up as more of a backup singer. Even with its apparent ode to Stevie Wonder classicism, their duet lacks the sweeping hook that instantly sticks to memory.
For now, Morton’s only downfall isn’t an inability to jump from genre to genre or from style to style; he is pretty good at what he does. Although some will gripe about his eccentric tastes, Morton finds the right production and smart lyricism to largely make it work. No, Morton’s Achilles is that his songs here never soar with the gravitas of Stevie, nor do they ever match the effectiveness of Bruno Mars' rhythm-and-pop tunefulness. Attribute that to Morton’s very limited vocal range. For instance, listen to the gutsy arrangement of “Heavy” and you can hear Morton’s vocals shrieking at F flat, while Levine proudly glides from his natural to falsetto with the wings of a Michael Jackson.
Devout fans of Morton will most likely appraise the value of his incredible gift and view this as another cool experiment in his bundle of musical treks. As a limited-time free download, they will no doubt praise the effort as a second coming of modern soul renaissance. But, up close and personal, Following My First Mindis just a short stroll on the front part of the forebrain, where personality, intelligence and the power of touch are the daily functions. We are left hoping his next full-length will takes us on a journey through the cerebellum, where balance and posture super rules. Mildly Recommended.
* this free EP is available via Morton’s website http://pjmortononline.com
By J Matthew Cobb