Music Review: Nikka Costa, “Pebble to a Pearl”
Rating: 83
Seven years ago, Nikka Costa’s career looked certain to go supernova — her song “Like a Feather” was everywhere and her style had one foot in classic funk and another in sci-fi future soul. But then she fell prey to industry whims and was forced to re-record much of her 2005 disc, “Can’tneverdidnothin’,” to little commercial effect. Now, a retrenched Costa is deep in a classic groove with “Pebble to a Pearl,” her first disc for the revitalized Stax label, and her new home has the siren bursting with hot buttered soul.
With the exception of the clear ‘60s echoes in opening track “Stuck to You,” “Pebble to a Pearl” could play convincingly as a 1974 artifact — Stevie Wonder’s “Fulfillingness’ First Finale” figures forcefully. She can slide from the simmering funk of “Keep Pushin’” into sexy Southern R&B ballads such as “Love to Love You Less” and Johnny Guitar Watson’s “Loving You” with slippery ease.
But the masterstroke of “Pebble to a Pearl” has to be “Bullets in the Sky,” an achingly gorgeous psychedelic soul ballad, in which Costa and producer/husband Justin Stanley concoct a mournful beauty from martial drums, Jason Falkner’s subtle guitars and falsetto backup vocals from Jamie Lidell. Costa has delivered her best album by staying true to the soul she loves, and she’s got the pipes and vision to carry on Stax’ classic traditions.
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I’ve been on the Nikka train for years, and her latest album eclipses her entire body of work for me. Such a masterful recording.