Khalid

Khalid

Album: “Free Spirit”

Grade: B+

Khalid charmed us on his debut album by singing about being young, dumb and broke. None of that is accurate on his sophomore effort.

The pop-soul-R&B star who knocked many people out with 2017’s “American Teen” is 21 now – still young, sure, but no longer a teen – and he’s far from broke now.

And we find him on his full-length second album wrestling with deep stuff. The guy who worried a few years ago that his mom would kill him because his car smelled like marijuana is now singing “I shouldn’t have to die to feel alive.”

“Free Spirit” is a fuller, layered 17-track album of unrushed, somber pop from an artist extending his wings and proving why he’s one of the most exciting voices in music today. On the funky “Paradise,” he acknowledges his maturity: “I’ve been thinking a little deeper/contemplation, getting cleaner.”

Two of the better tracks, “Better” and “Saturday Nights,” appeared on Khalid’s recent EP “Suncity” and he reunites with producers Charlie Handsome and Digi, who co-wrote many of the tracks. Though lately he’s been collaborating with everyone from Halsey to Kane Brown, Khalid keeps the guest list light here (though John Mayer supplies nifty guitar work on “Outta My Head.”)

Khalid’s sound has evolved and so has the fuller production elements. If in the past he used just a little piano or a guitar lick, now he nestles his voice in hazy clouds of warm synth, murky echoes and usually some distorted effects. He lays down overlapping vocals, adds twisty bits of electronica and falsetto to great effect.

At times, Khalid gets so introspective that the listener might feel like they’ve stumbled into a therapy session. “The man that I’ve been running from is inside of me/I tell him keep it quiet,” he sings on “Self.”

We were warned “Free Spirit” would be a very personal album from the opening song, “Intro,” where Khalid sings: “I can’t even live with being by myself/That’s the part of me that really needs your help.” But, to be honest, when it comes to making superb music, he doesn’t need any help.

–Mark Kennedy, Associated Press

Gino Vannelli

Album: “Wilderness Road”

Grade: B

Looking for a jazzy follow-up to George Michael’s “Kissing a Fool”? Try Gino Vannelli’s “Gimme Back My Life.”

It’s one of the standout tracks on “Wilderness Road,” the 20th album of the Canadian crooner transplanted to Oregon and his first of all original tunes in over a decade.

“Gimme Back My Life” hits plenty of regretful, yearning notes, as a lover laments the eviction and departure, and asks for another chance – “I packed my bags in such a rush/I forgot to pack my happiness.” Given an opportunity, it could be a smash.

Since his 1970s hits such as “I Just Wanna Stop,” Vannelli has played with a full house of styles, using his magnificent vocal chops mostly on combinations of pop and jazz, even going through a successful if sometimes unjustly maligned mid-’80s phase of synth-heavy tracks such as “Black Cars” and “Wild Horses.”

“Wilderness Road” is on the jazz/adult contemporary end of the spectrum, songs written on acoustic guitar though the arrangements lean more on piano and Vannelli’s effective drumming. Vannelli plays nearly all of the instruments on the album, with mostly on backing vocals.

“Wayward Lover” gets a new reading – having appeared already on “Canto,” Vannelli’s 2003 multi-language album of classical pop. This time, Vannelli’s performance has more intimacy, but without losing its vocal power.

“The Woman Upstairs” is a neighbor’s tragic story of domestic abuse, based on Vannelli’s childhood memories, while “A Long Dry Season” has a bit of the style of “Summertime,” though the dangers are present and accounted for, if not named.

There have been long pauses in Vannelli’s career, both from the recording studio and the stage, but his many talents are intact on “Wilderness Road.”

–Pablo Gorondi, Associated Press

Molly Tuttle

Album: “When You’re Ready”

Grade: C

Acoustic guitar sensation Molly Tuttle doesn’t play to her strength on her debut album. Blame the starmaker machinery, but “When You’re Ready” aspires to be contemporary rather than rootsy, and more like Taylor Swift than Maybelle Carter.

The album is overproduced by Ryan Hewitt, who worked with the Avett Brothers and the Lumineers, and fussy arrangements compete for attention with Tuttle’s singing and picking, both of which are lovely.

Her feathery alto has a distinctive quaver, and her guitar skills – including an unusual clawhammer technique that has helped earn her Americana and bluegrass awards – are obvious mostly on the songs’ introductions. But then too many other instruments join in, among them a synthesizer and string section, at times creating a frothy swirl that sounds like product as artifice displaces authentic.

Tuttle doesn’t need the window dressing. Some of her material is a little thin, but as a songwriter she has a winning way with a melody. And the final cut, “Clue,” shows her capabilities as a performer. The song highlights Tuttle’s voice, with long vowels that soar and bluesy twists that suggest her next record will be better.

–Steven Wine, Associated Press