Bunny Sigler is an already accomplished musician and producer that has been putting out records for literally the past 50 years. He has won four Grammy awards, was a major contributor and innovator to the “Philly Soul” sound, and has co-written many hit songs for a slew of different artists which include “Somebody Loves You Baby” by Patti LaBelle and “Dilemma” by Nelly which went on to become a number 1 hit. Throughout the years Bunny has proven himself to be a talented and incredibly versatile musician, and these traits are well showcased on his latest album From Bunny With Love.
The album starts out very mellow with “Sweet Lorraine” and “Unspoken Words,” two songs which are centered around only the piano and vocals. It seems that Sigler chose to ease listeners into his album, because after these two tracks he begins to delve into many different genres. The third and fourth tracks are very vintage-style soul pieces that feature more complex chords and serve to showcase Sigler’s vocal abilities. And then comes the fifth track called “You Never Know.” This song came as a real surprise to me, as I was surely not expecting something that sounds like a contemporary pop song to end up on what I thought was to be a traditional R&B album. The song features drums that sound very digital and well-produced and there is even noticeable auto-tune on Bunny’s voice. The song seems pretty out of place at first, but when looking at the album as a whole I feel that “You Never Know” is a very nice addition to the album and does well to showcase Sigler’s versatility and ability to evolve with the times—two traits which have no doubt allowed him to stay alive in the music industry after 50 years.
From “You Never Know” on, Sigler is able to jump from genre to genre with ease. The seventh track “In a Minute” has a very strong disco feel and a ton of energy, “Super Guy” is a sort of mellower funk song that sounds like it could have come from Marvin Gaye or Curtis Mayfield, and “Too Sexy” is a fast tempo funk song that is very reminiscent of James Brown.
What is very impressive about the album is that even while the songs move in and out of various genres, the songwriting stays catchy, inventive, and bold throughout. Sigler is able to make something totally original while also bringing in a ton of influence from previous styles. One obvious example of this is the bass tone on the final track “Face the Music.” The tone sounds like it came straight out of an early 80’s pop song, yet Sigler uses it to add some punch to a very soulful R&B piece. This serves as just one example out of many occurrences where Bunny Sigler proves himself as some sort of mad scientist songwriter, who mixes together ingredients of many genres and warps them into something unique that he can call his own.
Simply put, From Bunny With Love is just an example of a great songwriter just doing what he does. I recommend it to all fans of R&B, regardless of age.
Key Tracks: You Never Know, In A Minute, She’s My Lady
Seth Wood-MuzikReviews.com Contributor
April 23, 2012
