Leon Bridges - Good Thing

The Guardian 80

(Columbia)

Who is Leon Bridges? The question trailed his acclaimed debut, 2015’s Coming Home – not least because he seemed to appear from nowhere: the Texan dishwasher-turned-singer whose music suddenly went viral. But it also felt like a criticism. Sure, he evoked golden-era Sam Cooke and Otis Redding, but could Bridges create his own lane?

Good Thing suggests that, yes, he could: gone is the fuzzy, old-timey veneer, replaced with invigorating polish from pop producer Ricky Reed (Jason Derulo, Maroon 5) who joins forces with Bridges’ core co-writers. Bridges has lately been talking about Beyoncé-style pyrotechnics and Grammys, and this is consciously an album that’s aiming to be big: “Let me come through, I’m tired of being in the back”, he commands over the swinging shuffle of Bad Bad News. In practice, that means embracing the soft textures of modern R&B and neo-soul, but also the funky stylings of someone like Bruno Mars, notably on tracks like If It Feels Good (Then It Must Be), or the throbbing post-disco pulse of You Don’t Know.

Pitchfork 72

The second, more adventurous album from the Texas soul singer bends toward the present while keeping the warmth of classic R&B in his melodies and songwriting.

The Guardian 60

(Columbia)

Retro R&B singer Leon Bridges was one of the more satisfying success stories of 2015. He was still living with his mother in Texas when a couple of guys from indie rock band White Denim helped get his just-so period music out to a receptive world. A restaurant dishwasher, Bridges ended up with two Grammy nominations and a gig playing for President Obama.

Coming Home was a sepia-tinted gem; by contrast, Good Thing takes some steps forward in time, updating Bridges’s Sam Cooke stylings with a little Usher; the production gently eases its way out of the 60s, too. Certain sections of Bridges’s audience are likely to define themselves against modern forms, so there is a risk here.