LEON BRIDGES - Happiness Anytime

Brought to prominence by two members of White Denim, Leon Bridges immediately stood out for his admirable aesthetic sense and nostalgic taste for the soul music of Sam Cooke and Otis Redding, replicating its spirit and magic first on his debut "Coming Home" and later on the brighter "Gold-Diggers Sound".
Unfortunately, the American singer-songwriter, born in Atlanta (Georgia) and raised in Texas, also ended up a prisoner of routine, and his attempts to freshen up the sound with country and pop contaminations only accelerated the audience's waning interest. Backed by a voice with velvety, sun-drenched tones, Leon Bridges has this time enlisted the support of two members of Jungle, Josh Lloyd-Watson and Lydia Kitto, who produced and co-wrote the album, shifting the axis more decisively toward dancefloor-friendly sounds.

"Happiness Anytime" is a record of enormous expressive and artistic potential; the synergy between Bridges and his new partners in crime is especially palpable in the sinuous, bittersweet pop-soul of "Your Love Is Electric" and in the vibrant optimism of the infectious "Fly Baby". That the album is driven by sunny, upbeat rhythms is clear right from the festive, horn-driven, Latin-tinged intro of "Light The Way", which subtly hints at afrobeat textures that come to the fore in the oblique harmonic strategies of "Tears Of Joy" and the more languid "Illusion".
A light funk-rock breeze stirs the waters of the title track, allowing Bridges to showcase impressive vocal versatility; with equal class, the musician duets with Lydia Kitto over a bossa nova groove on "All Day, All Night" and further broadens his range of influences with the refined "Take My Hand", a track with originally afro-funk leanings that Leon Bridges found lacking in impact until bassist Pino Palladino's skilled touch injected it with the right dose of reggae, while jazz musician Eric Harland smoothed out the instrumental excesses until they became cool and hypnotic.

One shouldn't underestimate the risk that so much going on at once could test the patience of the artist's more hardcore followers, quick to point out an excessive familiarity with dance music ("The Way It Goes", "Watch You Dance"), but after a couple of listens the positivity of "Happiness Anytime" will win over even the most wary fans, for whom the author saves one final gem: "Please Don't Say Goodbye", a Tamla Motown-style ballad that Leon Bridges' voice gradually transforms until it resembles little more than a whisper.

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26/10/2026