March 28, 2004
Review: Deeper, Pete Belasco, Compendia

By Nick Cristiano

"I'm running out of that funky stuff," Ivan Neville laments at the outset of his new CD. Sure he is. This scintillating set from the son of the Neville Brothers' Aaron Neville - who guests with Keith Richards, Bonnie Raitt and other luminaries - is virtually swimming in delicious New Orleans funk.

Neville pays tribute to his hometown Meters with the rubbery instrumental title track, and quotes Marvin Gaye and Sly Stone in spots. But his songs mark him as his own man, from the hard-edged, attitude-heavy R&B of "The Ugly Truth" to the sweet-soul balladry of "Lost Ball" and the dance-oriented sleekness of "Dance for Free."

At the heart of the album, Neville one-eighties from "Ode to 5 A.M.," a wrenching portrait of an addict's dark night of the soul, into the uplifting "Life's Been Good" - and sings both with the conviction of someone who's been both places. - Nick Cristiano ***1/2

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