But the rest of the CD is a gem, featuring Robinson using his seemingly ageless pipes to conduct a veritable master class in romantic seduction. The new song is a disposable piece of Smokey-by-the-numbers. The 66-year-old Motown legend is back with Timeless Love, which finds him leading a jazz band through a collection of standards, plus one new original number. SMOKEY ROBINSON, TIMELESS LOVE (NEW DOOR RECORDS): Now that Rod Stewart, Bette Midler and many others have flogged the concept to death, does the world really need to hear another aging pop singer try his hand at covering classic songs from the 1940s and '50s? Good lord, no.īut what about a new album from the marvelous Smokey Robinson? Ah, now that's another matter entirely. What on earth is she trying to address? A cruel boyfriend? The Arab-Israeli conflict? Either way, her message feels ham-handed and off-base.Īfter nearly an hour of this stuff, you begin to wish Arie would just ditch the scented candles and New Age philosophizing and get supremely ticked off for a change. On one number, Arie even invokes the names of Nelson Mandela and Mahatma Gandhi to cite their capacity to forgive.
And I Choose coasts atop an infectious groove and features tasty slide-guitar licks by Bonnie Raitt.īut for most of the rest of the album, Arie reflects on her romantic misfortunes through songs with dead-giveaway titles like Wings of Forgiveness, Private Party and Good Mourning (a bad pun, not a typo). Summer is a charming acoustic collaboration with Rascal Flatts and Victor Wooten of Bela Fleck & the Flecktones.
The album's first single, I Am Not My Hair, manages to incorporate social commentary without feeling preachy, helped by an effective cameo by Akon. Not every song feels like a school lesson.
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