The Soul Express Album of the Month
August 2001
MICHAEL BOHANNON
BUILD A FIRE
UK Cafe de Soul, 2001
1) Build a Fire 2) Make Love Last
Forever 3) Maybe 4) Mellow 5) Someday 6) Bliss 7)
Heavenly Interlude 8) Turn You One 9) Straight
from the Heart 10) Amazing 11) Get It Right 12)
Grace 13) Clones
Produced by Michael Bohannon
Singer-songwriter Michael Bohannon
has been some kind of a cult soul hero since his
debut set Josephus... The Legend, and
the following mini-album from the last year,
which gained Michael lots of airplay in numerous
special soul radio shows. However, Michael's
recording have been very hard to get, until now,
when a brand new UK label Cafe De Soul
has released a 13-track CD from Michael, titled
Build a Fire. This CD contains partly the
same material as the aforementioned albums, but
since the earlier recordings have been so rare,
this is a most welcome release.
At first Michael sounds like he's trying to
imitate Marvin Gaye both in his
70s falsetto style and his rawer, 60s style with
a strong, throaty tenor sound - often during the
same track. Still, the material and the overall
sound is at places very modern, reminding one of
the new classic soul heroes, and suddenly, on
tracks like Someday and Amazing, you'll
realise that Michael sounds amazingly close to
Maxwell while he sings his 70s soul
influenced ballads.
For any soul listener who adores both Marvin Gaye
and Maxwell, this album offers truly inspiring
moments. Not only is Michael a vocally very
soulful interpreter, but his compositions - all
his own - also prove that we have a very gifted
new talent here.
Especially the first six songs on offer are
extremely impressive. These include a couple of
true killer cuts. First, Bliss certainly
lives up to its title, being an instantly
arresting mid-tempo tune that simply oozes sheer
soul. A vibe solo crowns the atmospheric tune
while Michael growls in an aptly ecstatic mood
singing "baby it's you, you give me
perfect bliss". A strong candidate for
the soul track of the year!
Another real monster of a soul tune is a ballad
tune titled Maybe, which has an exciting
creeping start that leads to an heavenly chorus
line and finally bursts into a thrilling
ad-libbing when Michael starts to show his
throatier side singing his heart out while
shouting lines like "just the way you do
to me!", "ooh forever and ever
baby" etc. A real treat to true soul
aficionados.
The title track Build a Fire
deliberately brings echoes of Marvin's What's
Going On album when Michael sings in an
extremely Marvin-ish falsetto mode over a
stylish, vibe-coloured background. Anyone who
loves Marvin's classic recordings certainly
admires this track, too.
Make Love Last Forever is a more modern,
yet thoroughly beautiful mid-tempo ballad tune on
which Michael reveals his regular tenor voice
after the falsetto style opening. Mellow and
Someday turn the overall feel to the current
sounds, but when Michael still hollers in an
Marvin-ish tone, the most obvious point of
comparision is Maxwell and his 70s-influenced
ballad tunes. Actually the track that has caused
most buzz among Maxwell fans has been Amazing,
which really sounds like it would have been
picked from Maxwell's massive debut set Urban
Hang Suite.
A couple of upbeat cuts in the latter half of the
CD are clearly less impressive than the
aforementioned cuts, but even these are very
listenable. The distinct peak of the upbeat
tracks is a song titled Get It Right,
which again demonstrates Michael's excellence in
songwriting.
In my book, Michael's strength as a songwriter
much compensates the fact that his style is much
copied from Marvin Gaye and Maxwell, and I warmly
recommend both fans of old and modern soul to
check this CD. (9) -IT
The review from Soul
Express 3/01.
The Album of
the Month in June-July 2001: Miki Howard
The
Album of the Month in May 2001: Cynthia Biggs
The
Album of the Month in April 2001: Gladys Knight
The
Album of the Month in March 2001: Nathan Heathman
The Album
of the Month in February 2001: Ian
The
Album of the Month in January 2001: Karen Bernod
Albums
of the Month in 2000
Albums
of the Month in 1999
Albums
of the Month in 1998
Albums
of the Month in 1997
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