Gonzo 2017
Keepin’ it in the family, a soul stalwart’s nephew rolls a milestone of his own.
Healthy skepticism would be forgiven when someone seems to try and make a fortune on their relative’s fame, although this is not the case on “Womack Style,” a robust record whose title would be a bold statement of flying a family flag rather than fitting into familiar groove. The great late Bobby is here, though, weaving his harmonies on “Love Addict” whose funky beats get embellished with Snoop Dogg’s rhymes, but it’s Binky’s butterscotch vocals that glue the album together; his voice – and his sensual six strings which take the autobiographical grit of “Me And My Guitar” from mundane detail to celestial soaring in one upward swoop.
“Womack Style” is a celebration of life, however unjust our existence can be, so the artist’s pride and joy radiate from “Sunday Morning” where punchy rhythms come wrapped in an almost orchestral tightness, and there’s a seductive vibe to the jazzy “Malibu Nights” adding transparent fragrance to the love that’s in the air. Yet if “Nobody Loves Me Like You” may suggest vulnerability in Binky’s picking up where “I’ve Been Loving You Too Long” left off, the cover of his uncle’s “I’m In Love” is as reassuringly effervescent as only masters of soul trade can serve up, while a take on John Mayer’s “Gravity” defies any self-doubt Womack has demonstrated earlier.
So whereas “When You’re Wrong” comes on as a raga-tinctured, scintillating dance number, “Love Is” rocks seriously hard, and “Put Something Down On It” has a heavy, Hendrix-patented rumble to it, which will bind the listener for more spins of this Binky experience. There’s a new Womack in town – let the circle be unbroken!
*****