LOFT965

Nikka Costa’s music has always had a prevailing element of nostalgia. Not lyrically, but melodically. Her passion lies in frayed funk and vintaged soul. Her third adult offering Pebble To A Pearl is no exception, in fact its a strong reassertion. 

Not that she longs for a time when music sounded different, but she follows an if-it-ain’t broke kind of policy.  Take, for example, her first single “Stuck To You,” which merges a 60s’ clap-hop with Joplin fervor. Not to mention the vocal back-replies that bring back the split-screen.

Now that Costa is on her own, leaving behind record industry clutter she has delivered a more relaxed record – one that merges perfectly without the worry of airplay and chart chat. This is evident in the fact that there are fewer upbeat songs on the set. Other than the fracas-funk of “Keep Wanting More” and the befitting “Can’t Please Everybody,” the rest of the tracks are downtempo and at times sluggish to her previous efforts. That is not to say that there is no flow in the slow. 

“Someone For Everyone” ploddingly introduces that pace, but it picks up when “Without Love” brings in the breeze from the window when you shut the door. “Love To Love You Less” turns the tumult of a relationship into a jazzy summer’s day.

To keep up with the album’s theme all of the tracks are recorded live-to-tape. A challenge Costa takes on amidst a myriad of comparisons to Amy Winehouse among reviewers following the success of Back To Black. Such claims are laughable as the other-half behind that blockbuster of an album got his big break producing Costa’s first single “Like A Feather” back in 2001.

Although blue-eyed soul is no longer considered a novelty, it has crossed genre lines. From Lisa Standsfield to Justin Timberlake, however, Costa stuck to the the original arrangements. So it comes as no surprise that the seductive “Loving You” and the playful “Cry Baby” sound like Berry Gordy signed them off.

Pebble To A Pearl delivers tunes that are playful and appealing without busting out of the original templates of soul. The title track attests to that. As it imperceptible to tell which decade this offering came from. It could very well be a female protege of George Clinton.

Although she has simmered down from the ruckus funkadelica of Cantneverdidnothin’ she shows no signs of straying from the genre for a more modern sound. That is not a bad thing, as Pebble To A Pearl proves so.