to listen or purchase
Unabashed devotion, forbidden lust, dance moves and giddiness about new love. Yes, 98% of today’s contemporary R&B artists have covered this lyrical ground time and time again, but it takes true aplomb to make them sound like new experiences -- something that Will Downing does on his latest EP (and the final in a trilogy on his new label), Tomorrow.
Unabashed devotion, forbidden lust, dance moves and giddiness about new love. Yes, 98% of today’s contemporary R&B artists have covered this lyrical ground time and time again, but it takes true aplomb to make them sound like new experiences -- something that Will Downing does on his latest EP (and the final in a trilogy on his new label), Tomorrow.
The brevity of the mix and the fact that it’s a final chapter doesn’t mean that Tomorrow is lacking in depth or quality: there’s a delightful hip-hop twist on the bad-boy confessional “Here I Go (Love Sick),” a song that delights in the chemistry he shares with committed woman while expressing regret at the same time (“I know you’re wrong for me, and I know I shouldn’t be on the creep/ but when we get together its’s so lov-er-ly, such a treat, you with me, aw…..”). Just as nice are the sultry come-hither dance floor ditty, “Side To Side,” and “Falling,” where a woman puts the mojo on him so hard that he breaks out some rusty Spanish just to express himself (Will’s baritione is so fly that even an awkward attempt at a second language sounds delectable). “Only One” is a ballad that’s as firm as it is tender , conveying a promise of love that will is both exclusive and endearing. It helps to wrap up this collection with focus and finesse: “Baby you’re the victim of my past relations, I accused you of the craziness going on inside my head, my head/but your love, your trust, your belief in me, Baby, has me eating from a bowl of hurtful things that I’ve said. Forgive me…..”
Album after album, Will Downing has shown that he knows both his audience and his music. And on Tomorrow he again demonstrates that while he may not cover wildly new territory on each new release, his mastery of his genre is virtually unparalleled. Highly Recommended
By Melody Charles