Blue-eyed soul, a not oft-discussed genre these days, is defined as rhythm and blues and soul music performed by white artists. Dallas-born and New Orleans-educated Charlie Oxford falls squarely into this category with pride on his self-titled debut album, offering proof of his pedigree. The collection of eleven songs of love and self discovery was produced by Adam Smith in Nashville, who artfully layered a taut rhythm section, slick horn lines, fat keys, dramatic strings and gritty guitars under Oxford’s boy-next-door voice with its southern-tinged charm.
The opening track, “Waiting For,” presents all those ingredients on a throbbing dance beat while Oxford delivers a motivational speech to himself and the world, asking, “ What are you waiting for,” as if he’s psyching himself up for the challenges of the songs to come.
He takes on the first challenge of stretching his vocal rang on the straight-forward love song “Drive Me Crazy,” mixing in a Sam Cook-like falsetto along with some tasty blues-soaked guitar leads. On the tender “You and I,” he anchors himself on acoustic guitar as a swirl of strings, pedal steel, and piano surrounds his simple message of triumphant love. He then offers a straight-ahead rocker called “Disappear,” before a lovely string duet intermission that segues into the mysterious power pop ‘Stranger Than Fiction.’ He does his best Timberlake on the delightfully corny R&B “Overdose,” but backs it up with some real second line, horn-infused funk on “Move In on Me,” showing off what he learned during his time in the Crescent City.
Smith added layers of orchestral percussion and string to Oxford’s coming-of-age melodrama “Letting Go,” making it ready for a prime time soap soundtrack. The album closes with the piano-based soul rocker “Another Thing Coming,” which spells out the pratfalls of love with terse horn stabs and a touch of glockenspiel for a charming retro sound. It’s a fitting tip of the hat to the beloved 60’s sound that inspired Oxford while growing up in Dallas listening to the local oldies station.
Originally published at Innocent Words April 30.2014
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R Bowen
