Third up in the country music lineup is the Florida-born Lari White and her 2004 album, "Green Eyed Soul"—another one that Kim had requested. But this one may fool you—especially if you've been following Lari's career since the mid-90's—there's hardly a hint of the contemporary country music sound to be heard anywhere on it! If you're talking about Lari's vocals, which are to die for and is the superb 'green eyed soul' as this album's title suggests, then the familiar accent you may be accustomed to by other country singers is absent, except perhaps on Track #4's "Eden Before We Fall", where you get to hear a little bit of it. On the other hand, if you're talking about the instrumentals, the beat and the production altogether, it sounds more pop and r&b than anything else. For instance, the very first song, "Nothing But Love", has a slightly funky r&b beat to it. The third and eighth tracks, "Right Here Right Now" and "One More Time", respectively, are pretty much straight-up blues all the way, although the latter has more of a gospel sound with the choir on backing vocals. Then the sixth track, "Groove w/Me Baby", is like the ultimate slow jam at an astounding 8+ minutes long (this is another one of those that you wish could play on for an eternity) with its soft instrumental jazz melody that takes over from the 7-minute point until the very end. It'll be a rough task trying to pick out the best of the eleven songs, because you'll find them all to be amazing. "Nothing But Love", "Let's Keep It Together", "We Got It Goin On" and "High" are my favorites because I so love the beats to each one of these and the way Lari sings them (the latter two have a distinctive retro jazz sound that I couldn't help but to notice). So, having said all of this, I would have to say that "Green Eyed Soul" is one of the best non-country music albums by a country singer that I've ever heard:
1. Nothing But Love
2. Let's Keep It Together
3. Right Here Right Now
4. Eden Before The Fall
5. Because I'm A Woman
6. Groove w/Me Baby
7. We Got It Goin' On
8. One More Time
9. Loved Right
10. High
11. Bare
Monday, February 21, 2011
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