Listen to the album “Homesick,” a catchy Motown revival album, and you’ll be transported back to an era when Stevie Wonder dominated the charts and Detroit buzzed with a thriving music scene.
Released in January, the EP marks the debut of Clyde Lawrence ’15.
The album opens with the bright, energetic “Wake Up.” Showcasing Lawrence’s talent for writing straight-up catchy music, it features his preferred choice of instrumentation — pounding piano, bluesy guitar and organ riffs.
Similarly infectious, the album’s second song, “Homesick,” starts with powerful jabs of guitar, filling out with the addition of a funky clavinet keyboard line that could be lifted straight from Stevie Wonder. Hand claps and a repeating piano line drive the track along before it explodes into a full-on boisterous jam.
The album offers a pleasant change in tone with another highlight — “So Damn Fast,” a more melancholy track about moving on and the passage of time. About halfway into the song, Lawrence’s talented younger sister comes in with robust backup vocals, adding a welcome depth to the music.
Lawrence shines on faster songs that boast more of a groove. “Homesick” hits a weak spot on slower songs, such as “Columbus Avenue” — the lyrics move to sappier territory, losing the energetic cheer that characterizes the album at its best.
Lawrence, who sings and plays both piano and bass on the album, said it surprises him when people call his work “throwback” and “old-school.” To him, he said, it sounds just like what he “grew up listening to.”
Though “Homesick” was put out under Lawrence’s name, he said he usually performs with a band, often referred to as “Clyde Lawrence Band.” In addition to Lawrence’s compositions, the group plays covers — including one on Youtube of Britney Spears’ “Toxic,” which manages to remarkably transform the track into a song that would sound right at home on “Homesick.”
Lawrence called the Jackson 5 and Stevie Wonder two of his biggest influences, adding that you can hear him “ripping off” their style on the album. These influences are definitely worn on Lawrence’s sleeve, and it is this bluesy sound that makes the album such a pleasure to listen to. Lawrence said his EP “only scrapes the surface of the original music” he has written, and he mostly recorded it to have an easy way to showcase his music and sound.
“Homesick” may not offer anything new. But there is nothing wrong with that. The album offers a set of nicely crafted, catchy and well-produced songs, all anchored by Lawrence’s soulful voice. It’s almost impossible not to get into the groove of a song like “Wake Up.”
Not everyone can pull off revivalist music, but Lawrence proves himself more than qualified to rekindle the Motown sound.
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