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:::Music Review:::
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Van Hunt
by William Ashanti Hobbs
author and co-owner of Meroen Press
October 2004
This Music Review is sponsored by:
1102 S. Adams St., ste.#5 - Tallahassee, FL 32301
850.222.6940 - www.flavamusic.net
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This Music Review is
Sponsored by:
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Imagine pre-afro/booty permed Lenny Kravitz, Curtis
Mayfield and Ben Harper moving within one body, as one
voice. If you can, then you can get with Van Hunt. In
an age where most artists once dubbed “neo-soul” would
pull off their blazers and vintage hats and beat you
senseless for calling them that, Van Hunt’s debut
invites the term in a whole new light. Van Hunt
dabbles so deeply into the aural seventies retro
scene, he flirts with it being taken as a novelty.
What saves him is, quite honestly, talent and a sense
of focus that alternative rocker Cody Chestnutt could
have used.
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The intelligence of Van Hunt’s lyrics will catch you
immediately. Such lyricism shines best on "Down Here
In Hell (With You)", where he opines that the madness
of the fussing and fighting is a balm to a mundane
existence. Ah, a man who understands a woman’s need to
complain! He presents his case with enough wit and
introspection that even other men may be tempted to
believe him:
"What would I do if we were perfect?
Where would I go for disappointment?
Love without pain
Would leave me wondering why I stay"
Like Kravitz, Van Hunt goes beyond typical R&B
sensibilities, but without you feeling that he’s
abandoning that part of his instincts altogether as
"Dust" can attest. It challenges brothers and sisters
from the jump with its metaphorical lyrics that have
nothing to do with street life or hood versions of
love gone amuck. "Dust"'s upbeat mood rivals the
California sun. "Hold My Hand" is more mellow but just
as unapologetically quirky. P.M. Dawn would have been
somewhere in Van Hunt’s stratosphere with these songs,
if they learned how to play instruments by now.
"What Can I Say (For Millicent)" moves beautifully in
a more somber vein. Here, his songwriting is proven to
have a range of melancholy that is unique and beyond
classification. You almost crave a cold, rainy
overcast day, blanket, green tea and a window with the
piano’s opening chords. Nostalgia comes from the
strings like that thick Indian incense you get from
the flea market.
The bass in Van Hunt’s outing could have been turned
up a notch though. "Anything (To Get Your Attention)"
is a solid candidate in this regard; the groove is
tight enough to want to push your ride slow to. Be it
bass guitar or keyboard, turning it up would have
definitely amped the funk to the next level, but then
that too may be Van Hunt’s insisting on not playing
too much to the standard format of today’s urban
radio. On another song that also seems to make you
want to play with the levels on your EQ, "Hello,
Goodbye", Van Hunt makes up for it when he channels
Curtis Mayfield’s phrasings and sound to the point
that it’s downright eerie.
"Highlights" has an oily-pimp groove and feels like
the soundtrack to an ambitious woman getting dressed
to go out on the town when someone from the past’s
name coming up on the caller ID. The lyrics here again
are stunning:
"Did I mean anything to you
did I just play the fool
In my heart, guess I always knew
I'll never be more than one among a few"
You best believe he is vying for Maxwell’s crown as
Mr. Thoughtful. "Her December" feels like a formidable
Stevie Wonder arrangement during his "Hotter than
July" phase and gives you taste of Caribbean rhythms
and showcases Van Hunt at his smoothest. To further
compliment this is the flute-sprinkled, Hammond-organ
accompanied "Out Of The Sky." This one is nocturnal by
nature, best spent while driving through the city at
night or with edgy, laid back friends and a martini.
Van Hunt is one of the most self-effacing artists on
the scene, but understand that there is an undeniable
confidence here (and rightfully so). His ironic,
thoughtful lyrics make him stand out like a black
Billy Joel. His musicianship is unquestionable and he
obviously strives in his craft like a D’Angelo or
Alicia Keyes. He knows he’s unusual enough to be
beneath your radar and smart enough to take it as a
compliment.
There’s no way he can not know he’ll be getting his
props soon enough. Mainly because he’s just so unique
as opposed to being ahead of his time, for, as Edgard
Varese, father of electronic music once said, it is
not that an artist is ahead of his time, but it’s just
that the rest of us are usually so far behind theirs.
Makes sense; Van Hunt’s CD came out in June. It took
me up until September to be up on it and this long to
articulate it.
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