Acey Duecy (CD - 2008)

Singer-songwriter Anthony David doesn't re-invent the neo-soul singer-songwriter wheel on his third album, ACEY DUECY, but the tunes are his strongest so far, and his approach here is even more elegant and refined. The mellow, intimate vibe of ACEY DUECY recalls old-school soul troubadours such as Al Green, Terry Callier, and Bill Withers, as much as it fits alongside David's contemporaries John Legend and India Arie. David can produce quite a sound with just voice and guitar (some of the album's best moments strip the music to its bare essentials), but all of ACEY DUECY is worth repeated listens.

Acey Duecy, Anthony David's first release with major-label backing, is the product of some payback from India.Arie. The longtime friends go back further than the latter's debut, Acoustic Soul, which featured a song ("Part of My Life") written by the former. Seven years later, Arie's clout has allowed her to establish a Universal-distributed boutique label called Soulbird, and its first release is this, a disc that pulls material from Anthony's independent releases 3 Chords & the Truth (2004) and The Red Clay Chronicles (2006). While he cites Bill Withers and Donny Hathaway, Anthony (last name Harrington, middle name David) is more a descendent of Terry Callier -- at least on the surface, through the tone of a rough-hewn baritone that often shines through with a relaxed intensity recalling Callier, as well as frequent use of acoustic guitar. His lyrics, also like those of Callier, can be descriptively up-front and all the more powerful for it. But he's his own artist who creates a unique mixture of vintage and modern sounds, from "Cheatin' Man" and "Cold Turkey" (stark simplicity made predominantly with voice and guitar), to "Lady" (an original that sounds too good to be anything but an update of a forgotten mid-'70s classic by a group like Enchantment or Floaters), to the Southern hip-hop boom-and-bounce of "Kinfolk." Further range is shown between the high-flying "Something About You" (it's remarkable how much this Level 42 song was made to resemble Deniece Williams' "Free," whether intentional or not) and the quietly pissed-off "Krooked Kop" ("Your royal order of fraternal brothers is really just a gang"). The past several years indicate that, unless this release should happen to go platinum (not likely), Anthony will get maybe one more shot (if that) prior to reverting back to the independent route. Regardless, this set should help add further growth to a following that will be paying attention for some time to come. ~ Andy Kellman minimize