Sunday, June 28, 2009
A+E, Music, Reviews

Van Hunt

“Use In Case of Emergency (Rare Items from the Vaults)”  (Self-released)

You could write a book, or at least a long article, about Atlanta “neo-soul” man Van Hunt’s unfortunate misadventures in the music business. It just proves that a folder full of nearly universally positive critical reviews from most mass-market music publications and the commercial muscle of a major label don’t guarantee much traction in the marketplace.

    Certainly, Hunt seemed to be in the right place at the right time in 2004 and 2006. The atmosphere for so called “neo-soul” was ripe when both of his excellent Capitol albums were released. But commercial success never followed, forcing Hunt to join the ever-growing ranks of indie artists desperately trying to gain a foothold with the public.
 
    As you might guess from the title, this set isn’t meant to do that. Rather, it’s a short, 35-minute, 11-track hodgepodge of finished outtakes and odds and ends left off the previous discs. Existing fans will enjoy this trawl though unreleased material, even if some of the songs, such as the sexy ballads “Tingle” and “Come Tomorrow,” seem on the slight side. Hunt exposes his inner Prince, always lurking beneath the surface, on the thumping “Man of the Year” and the garage-rocking “Attention!,” a song that is then reprised in the singer’s more typically come-hither mode (with sitar!).

   These predominantly overdubbed tunes feature the multitalented Hunt playing all the instruments and are often polished to a studio-product sheen, more evidence that the only direction he can go from here is up.  

2.5 STARS—Hal Horowitz