Son Little - New Magic Album Review

Story posted September 25, 2017 in CommRadio, Arts & Entertainment by Lilly Adams

In a world full of wannabe Amy Winehouse's & Adele’s, it’s seldom that an album labeled as blues and jazz can catch an audience's attention, especially in 2017, where the need for upbeat rap & house music is strong. Sometimes just having a cool, smooth voice is just not enough. That is until the Philadelphia native Son Little made his smooth & soulful voice prominent just three years ago, releasing his first EP Things I Forgot. Since then, he’s been a captivating and a truly original voice in the rhythm and blues genre. On September 15th, he released his second studio album, New Magic, taking on a more mature and heavy lyrical style. Son Little, known off-stage as Aaron Livingston,  wrote most of the songs on the album in a confined hotel room after a tour of Australia, giving an amazing mixture of soul, thought, depth and emotion to the album.

The album begins with the slow, sensual and jazzy “Kimberly’s Mine,” which has been best described as “baby-making” music. Livingston’s axe keeps a consistent tempo while minimally repeating the same phrases, letting passion slip in his gritty and enchanting voice. The classy and lustful song grabs a hold of the audience's body and soul, rocking them slowly, yet powerfully. To begin an album with this level of enticement is a truly amazing feat in his short career.

The album then flows into “Blue Magic,” which Livingston released as a single prior to New Magic earlier this summer. This song uniquely mashes together the R&B and old fashioned jazz genre, while also sounding eerily similar to something that would be on Coloring Book by Chance the Rapper, which released in 2016. It features an all-female choir, a jazzy R&B beat, a funky guitar fill and even a breakdown where solely a child sings the hook. This song’s beat is upbeat and peppy enough to give anyone an infectious smile and the feel of summer in their ears.

Livingston packed the album full of songs that all have the same original sound, while simultaneously giving each song its own vibe and impact on the listener. Listeners will find themselves jiving at the almost modern, borderline reggae, yet gospel song “O Me O My,” which appears right after “Blue Magic.” listeners will sink into their seats at Livingston’s extremely haunting song, which deserves to be in a James Bond movie, “The Middle,” which is the seventh song on the album, and finally the classic rocking head bop to the heavy beat and bass sounding song, “ASAP.”

The album is filled with all kinds alternative mixes, the songs varying from haunting, to peppy, to soulful, to jazzy, to even rock. While no two songs on the album are the same, it has a certain flow and attitude about it that all somehow match together. Livingston, who is the literal son of a preacher, truly graced the genre with an exceptionally diverse and intensely original album and accomplished something in the field that will no doubt go down in history as purely genius. This artist and his albums are criminally underrated, yet Livingston will no doubt gain commercial attention for this album.

Rating: 8/10  

 

Lilly Adams is a freshman majoring in film/video studies. To contact her, email lillyadams11@gmail.com