Marc Broussard - Carencro (2004)

Tracklist

01. Home (Album Version)
02. Rocksteady (Album Version)
03. The Beauty Of Who You Are (Album Version)
04. Save Me (Album Version)
05. Come Around (Album Version)
06. Where You Are
07. Lonely Night In Georgia (Album Version)
08. Saturday (Album Version)
09. The Wanderer (Album Version)
10. Hope For Me Yet (Album Version)
11. Let Me Leave (Album Version)
12. Gavin's Song

Make no mistake about it, Marc Broussard can sing. With a husky baritone that sounds like some Louisiana version of David Ruffin and an upward range that suggests Al Green or Eddie Kendricks, Broussard's soulful phrasing carries a kind of joyous and yet world-weary wisdom that belies his age. The lead track here, "Home" (the album is named after Broussard's hometown of Carencro, LA), is immediately stunning. A huge and atmospheric swampy Motown stomp, "Home" sounds like Otis Redding from some alternate universe -- one in which he doesn't die in a plane crash -- singing swamp pop with all the funk of a Memphis Stax groove and all the ghostly alligator voodoo of Dr. John. An explosively effective track, "Home" is a hard act to follow, and the rest of this album seems to trail in its wake. "Save Me" sounds like it could be a winning single for the neo-MTV generation, and Broussard's surprisingly joyous vocal (you can tell he takes glee in singing, a trait, again, that recalls Al Green) masks a somewhat codependent lyric, while "Lonely Night in Georgia" sounds like John Hiatt trying to channel Ray Charles. There is a journeyman's feel to some of the songs, but Broussard's soulful vocals always find a meaningful corner to work from in just about everything here, and one can't help but feel this guy has a monster album in him just around the corner. Carencro isn't a masterpiece (although "Home" certainly is), but it is a solid, professional, and undeniably soulful outing, and anyone who can sing like this kid is definitely going to set the world reeling back on its heels eventually.

DOWNLOAD ALBUM [flac]