Track listing: Just Like You, Notice Me, Can I Take You Out Tonight, The Best of Me, Passion Fruit, Blind To It All, Love Guarantee, Miss Riddle, Roll Some Mo, Lady Wants To Know, Strangers in the Night, I Pray It's You, There's Nothing We Can't Do
What. A. Breath. Of. Fresh. Air.
Reggie Braxton's new album The Brax-tone Experience kicks off with "Just Like You," which despite his Detroit upbringing channels heavy Philly vibes a la The Stylistics' "Betcha By Golly, Wow." So smooth, so mellow. His velvety baritone voice is front-and-center on the record, which could be an homage to 80s-era RnB. It's an album filled with love and romance. Turn the lights on low, light some candles and pour the wine--the night is young and the room is thick with sensuality.
Braxton is the cousin of The Temptations' bass vocalist Melvin Franklin. And while their voices differ, you can hear Franklin's influence and mentoring when it comes to delivery and setting the perfect mood for the album. Where Braxton shines is not trying to make his Experience about vocal virtuosity. Instead, he lays down some sweet vocal icing on a musical dish built off stellar, tasteful musicianship and a continual focus on the beauty of classic RnB. It's all about Love, isn't it? Sexuality is a component but this isn't a Marvin Sease project--The Brax-Tone Experience is 12 sensual tracks filled with allure and those sly looks partners make when both know the direction the evening is headed.
While Reggie wrote a majority of the album, his cover of Michael Franks' 1977 single "The Lady Wants To Know" is a perfect rendition--just the right combination of respecting the original while making the song all his own. It picks up right where is debut single, a reinterpreted cover of Erykah Badu's "Next Lifetime," began: blending the essence of the old with modern-day ingenuity and creativity.
The Brax-tone Experience delivers. Listeners truly get to experience what Reggie Braxton has to offer. And with all the tension and divide going around today, it truly is a refreshing experience to dive headlong into all the elements of a classic-yet-new RnB album.