Maxwell James
Maxwell James
(Independent)

“Roll Down Your Window Slowly,” begins Maxwell James’ wonderful, self-titled EP. It’s got a Scotty Murray, electric lap steel slide, James’ sexy voice and a snappin’ funk beat you can’t get away from. From the get go we realize we are going to be taken on a rich ride of ‘alternative,’ (whatever the hell that actually means) rock, blues, and folk, all put together expertly across these five tracks.

“Feed My Evolution” follows, a wonderful blues number with lots of open space, a heavy bass stomp, and David Dorn laying his B3 notes low and rumbly as well as soloing with the big bad instrument later. “The More You Say, The Less I Know” sees James managing a roiling-back-on itself riff. Sweet harmonies layer in here and again that wonderful B3 colors the background.

“Blatantly,” again reveals a cool acoustic guitar riff, a slightly softer tune than what’s gone before, again, with great use of harmony vocals. It’s a laconic love song, with James one again pulling you in with his easy way of singing, playing, and song construction.

“When It’s Real,” ends it all, a ballad of love dissipating, a nice swaying lament and just the perfect icing on the wonderful cake that is this EP.

The rest of the musicians playing here are worth a mention for sure. Jason Cheek manning perfectly placed drums and percussion, not so easy to do when it comes to production on an acoustic-based record, and Chris Croce, playing a tasty bass throughout. All the players here lend their talent to Maxwell James and the result is this superb little entree.