ALBUM REVIEW: Zeshan B Lays Out a Soulful Vision for Social Justice on ‘O Say, Can You See?’

Like Marvin Gaye, Jerry Butler, Curtis Mayfield, and gospel singer James Cleveland, Zeshan B combines soaring vocals with swaying rhythms that inspire the soul and move the feet to action. On his third album O Say, Can You See? he adds lush layers of orchestration to his searing lyrics, transporting the soulful songs on the album to another sonic dimension that urges listeners to look at the torn fabric of our world and try to repair it.

Album opener “Do Something” rushes in on strings and horns, escalating the urgency of Zeshan’s cry for action in the face of mounting public and private indifference to social problems. The rousing gospel number “Mountaintop,” which opens with a torrent of pounding piano, features a swelling call-and-response chorus on the refrain as the song mimics the climb out of these “tryin’ times, cryin’ times” to the exalted mountaintop where we can gaze upon peaceful valleys. In this song, the swinging, blaring horns of Muscle Shoals meet the dazzling cadences of Aretha Franklin.

Striding B3 chords create a haunting sonic atmosphere for the somber “On My Own,” a quietly rousing anthem that conveys the cries of the marginalized individuals who are often the victims of police violence: “On my own, will anybody miss me when I’m gone?” The Curtis Mayfield-esque “Change,” with its driving handclaps and echoing choruses, ushers in a glimmer of hope that, indeed, we can foster change because “We can come together join our voices like a choir / And hoping that voices catch and spread just like a fire.”

Zeshan B (photo by Vince DeSantiago)

The tenderly delivered “Never Turn Away,” with its glittering Wurlitzer flourishes and Al Green-like vocals, conveys the key ways change can occur: “Never turn away / From the people / alone in the world.” The horn-heavy title track asks a simple question about taking a hard look at the world around us in order to act in it. On “Flight of the Butterfly” Zeshan turns into jazz crooner, delivering a performance that could be straight out of the Great American Songbook with its lush orchestral accompaniment. The album closes with gently undulating soul lullaby “Dream On,” with its promise that a new day will come and “Victory will surely be won / Cuz we dreamin’ on / Until the morning light.”

On O Say, Can You See? Zeshan B’s powerhouse vocals offer solace and a hopeful vision of unity and love.

Zeshan B’s O Say, Can You See? is out July 26.