Lee Fields and the Expressions – Faithful Man

“Take it from me,” insists Lee Fields on the second track of Faithful Man, “I still got it.” It’s a claim that even a cursory listen renders undeniable: despite a career spanning 43 years, Fields’ irresistibly powerful development of classic soul sounds as strong and fresh as ever here. The arrangements are characteristically lush, incorporating strings, brass, organ and piano alongside the impeccably-rendered rhythm section and Fields’ James Brown-esque vocals.

The feel of Faithful Man is, perhaps inevitably, nostalgic and reflective: an atmosphere created as much by the arresting melancholy of Fields’ songs as by the album’s carefully-reconstructed vintage soul sound. Yet the songs are strong enough – Fields seems to mean it enough – to resist any sense of pastiche. While he may be uninterested in innovation for its own sake, Fields’ deep-rooted awareness of soul’s history has enabled him to develop a distinctive voice that shines through here.