Grammy award winning soul singer/songwriter Anthony Hamilton released his fifth studio LP album called What I’m Feelin’ on March 25th. The singer reunites with longtime collaborator Mark Batson, who produced his biggest hits “Charlene” and “Comin’ From Where I’m From”. This album also has collaborations with the great Vince Gill, Gary Clark Jr., James Poyser, Salaam Remi, Harold Lilly, and many more.
The first song off of the album is a song called, “Save Me”. It is an energy filled track, with amazing instrumentation. You can easily recognize the guitarist extraordinaire, Gary Clark Jr. on the song “Ain’t No Shame”. His guitar riffs compliments Hamilton’s voice with the blues arrangement chords with a hip hop accent rhythm. The self-titled song, “What I’m Feelin'” featuring his incredible back up singers, The Hamiltones. It is very relaxing, piano driven melody. Great harmonies, and the lyrics are expressing how he’s never felt love like this, and asking the question if she’s afraid of the love he feels is growing. “I Want You” has very flowing production, and blends very well into the middle of the album. His vocal approach in the song “Never Letting Go” is worthy of applause. He masterfully conquered this ballad, and maintained a build-up with veteran techniques. He let his voice tell the story, and the accompaniment of the guitar skilled Vince Gill gave this a soothing soul stirring contribution.
Something about that drum accent in “Grateful”, makes it seem like it keeps everything together over the organ playing. The lyrics are saying he is grateful for their love. The chord arrangements in “Walk In My Shoes” are so naturally flowing into the song, it shows the emotion within the lyrics. It didn’t seem like a heartbroken song; because it was providing a free flowing, hopeful energy with the melody of the music. “Take You Home” has a great organ intro. It kind of gives that vibe of that hip preacher at church you know who keeps up with the latest lingo to relate to the youth members, but also keeps the traditions of the “church in the morning and singing devotion” type of musical vibe. Doesn’t seem out of place, and transitions wonderfully to “Still”. Which is a phenomenal ballad, with a great piano melody. The lyrics are talking about how he still believes in love, and love from a spiritual sense. His vocals didn’t seem rushed, very calm, and showed great control of his voice. “Ever Seen Heaven” is a nice mid-tempo production, and is another great song that didn’t seem out of place on the album. The last song on the album is, “Love Is An Angry Thing”. The lyrics are saying he thought he knew the meaning of love, and love will put you through a lot of emotions when you least expect it.
You can really feel his sound musically evolving, as well as his voice. Everyone knows he can bring that power house voice down on any song of his choice. The emotions he displayed on certain songs showed another layer to his vocal range, and his ability to sustain control of his voice, and the rawness of what he’s talking about lyrically shined through. Shout outs to him for having all of these wonderfully talented musicians named above, and also can’t forget about the background singers and engineers credited as well. A very solidly put together album.
What I’m Feelin’ is available in stores now; (digital) purchase via Prime Music and iTunes/Apple Music.