Donny Hathaway, Marvin Gaye, and Stevie Wonder cornered R&B soul because they managed to blend the rhythm of music with that of one’s heartbeat. Their songs made you sway with their sound, but also with the movement of their heart. When a singer/ song-writer manages to combine introspective lyrics with funkadelic sonics, it like life is breathing into your soul because you see how it breathes into theirs. Jamie Lidell’s new album Building A Beginning is that breathe of life.
Building A Beginning is a beautiful, soulful album in which Lidell comes off like a painter. He uses pastel- greyed colors with splashed hues of neon and gold to paint his life before listeners’ very eyes. Ironically, it is the vividness he offers in reflecting his spirit that makes you want to close your eyes and envision the canvas portrayed. Each song is like a brush stroking the canvas in which Lidell expressesfrustrated emotions, a self-deprecation, or a lovely hope. Lindell’s entire album is a charming look into the heart of man that does not know if he is doing his best to live life fully, but he is certainly trying to do so.
Life is not easy to live, especially when one’s personal best feels like its ever-changing. The majestic nature of Building a Beginning is that it shows that one’s personal best grows with each chapter of their life, which is both exhilarating and exhausting. Some days you can feel bigger than life as Lidell does when he sings to his child in Julian and I Live To Make You Smile. These tracks are like three minute celebrations into how wondrous and humbled life can make you feel when it goes so right. Yet, life is not always right. Sometimes, it can feel really wrong, in which tracks like “In Love And Alone” and “Nothings Gonna Change” sound like “feel good” songs for when you are not feeling so well over life’s ability to laugh at your personal plans. Still, whether he is heart-fully singing on the the ravishing nature of love or kicking his boots at the disappointment of a shattered dream, Lidell’s voice never fails to carry the spiritual weight of being a sentimental person.
Life is meant to be felt, and, for those like Lidell, they are blessed with having a voice that gurgles with the feelings and perspective of someone living with their heart on their sleeve. Thus, Building A Beginning feels like a guidebook on how to live as such a someone. As mentioned, your definition of your best should be different with age, but in changing how you see yourself, life, and your many loves, you can feel like Lidell….. like you are always building a beginning. It is a striking analogy that shows, in part, why Lidell’s voice seethes with poignancy. It is as if his vocals embody every cry of joy and sadness a soul can give throughout their life. Being stuck in a permanent “start-over” is not always enthralling, as you may feel like love and peace is distant over the horizon, but Lidell is quick to give you hope.
Whether it be with the funk-rock vibes of “How Did I Live Before You” or the magnificent hymnal that is Motionless, as Lidell shares the ups and downs of his life, you feel hope that you too can be as resilient. I love this album, as it reminds me of why I love being a reviewer and rejuvenates my own hope for music’s future as it carries artists like Jamie Lidell and records like this one: Building A Beginning. Click Here For More Information On Jamie Lidell and To Buy Building A Beginning, which will be released on October 14.
