Description
Lift Your Spirit is feel-good music, mostly on Blacc’s terms. He assures just as much in “The Man,” glittering retro soul that references Elton John’s “Your Song” and flaunts his Hip Hop savvy at the hook: “Go ahead and tell everybody / I’m the man, I’m the man, I’m the man.” Now, Blacc’s a sly cynic. He sings “Chasing” with equal sweetness and grit as Sam Cooke would, a delivery that sweetens this ditty about being flat broke. “So keep your calm and carry on,” he sings in the ominous “Ticking Bomb,” his voice rounded and worn, as if haunted by the popular poster slogan’s WW2 origins. And in his version of “Wake Me Up,” reconfigured from its country-meets-EDM roots into a jangly Folk rendition, Blacc sings with more force than its weary lyrics seem to warrant. It’s as if he’s slowly regaining the energy to fight back.
