Listen: Leon Bridges - River
American Southern soul how it used to sound.
Leon Bridges has just dropped a fine old single titled River off his upcoming album Coming Home. He’s also released the track list and River, fittingly, is the last track on the LP. It makes sense to be the final because it focuses on a longing for what once was. And by being shaped around a isolated guitar riff that is gradually wrapped in Bridges’ rich voice and choral elements it fits the mood perfectly. The type of soul present in this song is not what we hear in contemporary R&B, but it’s precursor delta blues and the sounds of Motown. So if Otis Redding and Sam Cooke make your spine tingle then Leon Bridges should be alright too.