Candi Staton
Most well known for tracks such as Young Hearts Run Free and In The Ghetto, Candi Staton has had more than a dozen gospel albums released worldwide as well as 30 R&B Billboard chart singles and 4 Grammy nominations. More recently thrust into the mainstream limelight, her song You Got The Love, was remixed by The Source many times, and as the song chosen for the final episode of hit TV Show Sex And The City, it seems Candi Staton has a knack for making generally fantastic music.
Not all that different from her last album 'I Will Sing My Praise To You', which she recorded for God, it is certainly different from her earlier Motown hits. Sticking to her roots however, 'Who’s Hurting Now?' Is essentially a gentle album packed to the brim with her booming voice that has become timid, but no less soulful in this latest offering. We already know she has a massively powerful voice available for when she needs it. After all, we’ve heard it before, making this album a welcome change from her older releases, but not completely out of character. In fact, her album is true to the original reason she got into music in the first place all those years ago; to be in a gospel.
With songs that would fit into a Church congregation as easily as a regular hymn would, Staton takes the lead accompanied by a mild guitar strum and emotive backing vocals. Fuelled with passion for her religion, the lyrics may not all necessarily be devoted to God this time around, but with her thirst for prayer through music, they are written in a way that could easily pass for Christian music.
Country shines through in the background that if it were to be sped up, it could easily be played in a western bar with a shot of whiskey. Generally, with a slow tempo, there is nothing dull about this album. Soothing and inspiring, an occasional strumming of a chord keeps you on your toes that the rhythm of the songs might just break into a speedy outburst. But it never comes. It never needs to. Statons voice alone is enough next to the cool and groovy music to keep it consistent and irresistible.
These new instalments might not be the hot choice for remixes like You Got The Love was but if soulful music if up your alley, or if you just want some quiet music for the bath, then this album is ideal for winding down at the end of the day. Peaceful yet raw, it is not difficult to see why she has reached millions throughout her career so far.
Skip to – I Don’t Know
Rating – 4/5
Candi Staton will be touring the UK in February and March in promotion of the album in the following cities:
FEBRUARY
14 Gateshead – The Sage
17 Southampton – The Brook
18 Bristol – Academy
20 Liverpool – Philharmonic
21 Birmingham – Town Hall
23 Basildon – Towngate Theatre
24 London – Shepherds Bush Empire
25 Hove – The Old Market
27 & 28 Glasgow – The Ferry
MARCH
01 Dunfermline – Carnegie Hall / 04 Peterborough – The Cresset
By Karen Asbury