December 17, 2021
Epitaph
1xLP (Indie Exclusive Red Vinyl)
You may have heard Curtis Harding for the first time in a minivan commercial, which is a shame. His 2017 album Face Your Fear is one of the elite examples of retro-soul done right, and is frankly deserving of at the very least a nice coupe or maybe even mid-sized luxury SUV. If Words Were Flowers, meanwhile, could be commercial for a DeLorean. Where Harding's previous projects were intentional sounding of the 60's/70's, Flowers finds him floating between decades, as much indebted to Stevie Wonder's arrangements as much as contemporary disco-funk (see: Duran Jones, St. Paul & The Broken Bones). It's a creative and artistic leap for the artist, and a welcome addition to a special discography that, unfortunately, could not be described as prolific.