Marc Broussard - Keep Coming Back (2008)

You know those finance articles you see on the internet that analyze a company's prospects where the author has to disclose any positions he has in the companies securities? Well, here's my disclaimer for this review: like the artist being covered here, I too grew up near Lafayette, Louisiana, so I'm naturally going to root for my Cajun homey to succeed.

Marc Broussard (that's pronounced BROO-sard for you Yanks) is a proud native of the small hamlet of Carencro, at least proud enough to name his second CD from four years ago after his hometown. He's hardly the first celebrity to come from there, though. Yankees pitcher Ron Guidry, New England Patriot running back Kevin Faulk, Cajun music steel guitar legend Pee Wee Whitewing, and Louisiana Hall of Fame guitarist Ted Broussard all hail from there. Marc Broussard is just the latest Carencrotion (if such a word exists) to make his mark on the world.

Broussard isn't so much making his mark with the music of his native stomping grounds, though. He's doing it with a steadfast devotion to soul and the golden pipes to deliver it the way it's meant to be delivered. His affinity to r&b naturally comes from being the son of the aforementioned Ted Broussard, who was a member of the local legend Gulf Coast blue eyed soul band The Boogie Kings. With today's release of Keep Coming Back, Broussard has his fifth album out while only in his mid-twenties.

Keep Coming Back finds Broussard debuting on the label of Otis Redding, the fabled Atlantic Records. It comes on the heels of last year's all-soul-covers S.O.S.: Save Our Soul, Broussard's tribute to the 60's/70's golden age of soul. With Keep Coming Back, he seeks to make new soul classics that evoke the spirit of that time.

It can be a risky and daunting proposition to summon the ghosts of Redding, Gaye and the like without coming off as a cheap, opportunistic imitator. However, even though Broussard's flawless croon often sounds more like Paul Carrack and Delbert McClinton than Wilson Pickett, this release succeeds because Broussard is completely invested in it.

That's obvious for several reasons. First, he uses vintage 2" analog tape to recreate the old, warm feeling of vinyl records and the songs are played a lot like they would have been played back in the day. Secondly, he recorded this using mainly his touring band to help capture a live, emotional feel. As a result, eight of these twelve tracks were first takes, according to Broussard. And finally, the originals presented here are all worthy additions to the canon of the blue-eyed soul/r&b/swamp pop style of music in which Broussard plies his trade.

Listeners are treated to an array of songs that recall some of the best of the Isley Brothers ("Hard Knocks"), Al Green ("Real Good Thing"), The Temptations ("Power's In The People"), Aretha Franklin ("Man For Life"), and The Spinners ("Saying I Love You"). Compared to Broussard's last album of new originals, Carcencro, his songs have taken quantum leaps in depth and maturity.

Even when taking on the topic of social strife as he does with "Power," he comes across convincing as an urban warrior from the Nixon era, not some South Louisiana country kid of today.

"Real Good Thing" is a slice of sunny, sweet soul that you can't get enough of. His duet with country queen Lee Ann Rimes "When It's Good," with it's 50/50 hybrid of country and swamp pop fits both singers perfectly and doesn't forced at all like star-studded duets tends to be. The mid-tempo strut "Why Should She Wait" is a semi-duet of sorts, with strong backing vocals supplied by pop songstress Sara Bareilles.

The title cut "Keep Coming Back" is a funky, horn-driven groover that's full of sass in Broussard's hands. "Going Home" is a country-flavored folk-pop that deviates from the soul formula but Broussard can switch modes so effectively, it doesn't really matter.

Marc renders the gentle ballads just as well as the uptempo numbers. "Evil Things" is delivered with the heartbroken pleading that befits the tune. "Another Night Alone" is a fine example of the lost art of quiet storm music.

If there were any silly notions that Broussard's world-class voice might have come courtesy of Auto-tune, he dispels that definitively on the final track. For "Evangeline Rose," (live version in video below) he's stuck in a big room armed with just an acoustic guitar, a mic and his talented throat, perfectly delivering a heart-felt ballad with nothing felt missing.

So, feel free to discount my review because of local bias; if you are a fan of good, old-school Stax soul tastefully updated for today, though, you're very likely to find yourself biased for Marc Broussard and his Keep Coming Back album, too. You miss out on this one at your own risk.



Purchase: Marc Broussard - Keep Coming Back