R&B
Chris Brown, "Heartbreak on a Full Moon" (RCA Records)
Chris Brown is too much. Quite literally, across the expanse of his two-CD, 45-song, nearly three-hour eighth solo album, the R&B and EDM vocalist is going for deluge and dare. The news is that, for the most part, Brown's "Heartbreak" works. That's tough for a guy who is not necessarily a producer. It's harder still considering his dueling subject matters: nasty sex, revenge, depression, need.
There's much of Brown's personal life to consider going into "Heartbreak," yet you don't need TMZ to appreciate/adore the vocalist who creamily attacks the yearning romanticism of "Nowhere," the sorrowful "Enemy," and the almost meditative bust-up tune "Hurt the Same." On "Everybody Knows" and "Privacy," Brown's aching tenor pleads for time away from prying eyes in a fashion that's both damnably demanding and woefully tearful. Is there silly, funky, raunchy sex stuff included? Indeed. "Roses," "Pills and Automobiles," "Questions," and his cocktail party soulful "Juicy Booty" with equally provocative singer-personalities Jhené Aiko and R. Kelly take care of the dirty talk.
Brown — like R. Kelly, Al Green and Marvin Gaye before him — will always be torn by the battle of the spiritual, the sexual, the soulful. Here's hoping he continues to find that happy balance.
A.D. Amorosi, Philadelphia Inquirer
POP/ROCK
Walk the Moon, "What If Nothing" (RCA Records)
Walk the Moon is practically an endangered species these days: a rock band that gets played on pop radio. The Cincinnati-based quartet owned the pop airwaves in the summer of 2015 with the inescapable "Shut Up and Dance." With its new album, Walk the Moon picks up exactly where it left off.
The first single, "One Foot," is another stomping chant, as singer Nicholas Petricca offers, "Got your back, if you've got mine, one foot in front of the other." "One Foot" has already hit the Top 10 on the alternative rock charts and is destined for the pop charts. And Walk the Moon provides plenty more catchy, pop-tinged rock beyond that, including the gorgeous "Surrender" and "All Night," which incorporates a bit of Imagine Dragons into its heavily syncopated verses.
However, the band is clearly also looking to stretch. "Press Restart," which utilizes Petricca's falsetto nicely, as well as some ambitious rhythms from drummer Sean Waugaman, sounds epic as it moves from Jon Bellion-like dreaminess to pointed funk from guitarist Eli Maiman. (It's no wonder the band named its upcoming tour after the song.)
In "What If Nothing," Walk the Moon continues to hone its sound to keep rock attractive to pop listeners, but it also provides surprises like the prog rock of "Sound of Awakening" — a sure sign they aren't ready to simply shut up and dance.
Glenn Gamboa, Newsday
new releases
• Björk, "Utopia"
• Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds, "Who Built the Moon?"
• The Staves & YMusic, "The Way Is Read"
