One can rarely accuse José James of repetition. As a composer he is constantly on the move and absorbs all the influences around him like a sponge. After extensively exploring the genres funk, blues, hip-hop, R&B and folk with his lightly smoked, velvety, soulful baritone voice, he adds indie rock for his fifth album While You Were Sleeping. While You Were Sleeping can be seen as a synthesis
… of all the music James loves. You can hear the sound of modern artists such as Frank Ocean, James Blake and Junip, but also the echoes of Nirvana, Radiohead and Madlib. His regular backing band with Richard Spaven (drums), Solomon Dorsey (bass), and Kris Bowers (keys) sounds closer than ever. Guitarist Brad Allen Williams provides the necessary rock influences here and there that James uses as if he never did otherwise. A courageous step forward as James takes a gamble that could cost him a good chunk of his old-time fans. However, the chance of this happening is fairly slim, because James is more likely to add soul to rock than vice versa. (AD)more