Leon Bridges gold diggers sound

Leon Bridges, Gold-Diggers Sound: REVIEW

“Texan gentleman Leon Bridges cements his status as an R&B revivalist without regard for generational frontiers.”

Leon Bridges, Gold-Diggers Sound (Columbia)

Texan gentleman Leon Bridges cements his status as an R&B revivalist without regard for generational frontiers, leaning into tradition over genre and creating intricate but easily palatable, smooth, sexy soul music. Where 2018’s ’70s-fused Good Things came as a bit of a shock for fans hooked into the Sam Cooke-era soul stylings of Bridges’ 2015 solo introduction Coming Home, his third LP arrives as a less jarring tonal shift, taking the better-working aspects of that somewhat maligned sophomore album and trimming the fat. The resulting 11 tracks sound less experimental, more self-assured and, while Bridges has not necessarily quite struck gold again yet, this new outing lands nicely and serves to enrich his prior work with a more stable sense of direction, along with some truly beautiful hymns. 7.5/10 Trial Track: “Details”

This review originally appeared in the August issue of Cult MTL. For more on Leon Bridges, please visit his website.


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