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If he never sang another note, Aaron Neville’s largess would still be assured. Along with his stint at the helm of New Orleans’ first family of song, the namesake Neville Brothers, he scored an immortal solo hit with the immediate soul standard “Tell It Like It Is.” It took him 20 years to return to the charts, but when he did it was with a vengeance, courtesy of Cry Like a Rainstorm, Howl Like the Wind, an album that paired him with Linda Rondstadt and spawned the Grammy-winning hits “Don’t Know Much” and “All My Life.” More recently, he scored his first Top 10 album with 2013’s My True Story, produced by renowned admirers Keith Richards and Don Was.
Of course, it’s Neville’s remarkable falsetto, one of the singular voices in all of pop music’s various realms, that helped elevate his standing. Still, one would be remiss not to mention the sheer presence and conviction that he brings to every project with which he’s involved, both on his own and with his esteemed brothers. On Apache, he again finds formidable allies in the likes of Eric Bloom of Blue Oyster Cult and Cochemea Gastelum and David Guy of Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings, a band that obviously owes a thing or several to Neville and his kin. However, the most telling element lies in the fact that this is the first time Neville had a hand in writing every one of the songs. That personal perspective is especially striking on “Stompin Ground,” a song that’s wholly autobiographical in content (“I was born in the southern land…My roots down in New Orleans”) and is as good as any statement of purpose that could be bequeathed from a dedicated biographer. For anyone out there that’s still unaware of his birthright in the blues, this track ought to be required listening.
The rest of the effort fares well, although it must be said that as a songwriter, Neville’s a far better singer. While “Orchid in the Sun,” “Heaven” and “I Wanna Love You” are superior selections, they’re surrounded by songs that are best described as perfunctory performances, flush with rhythm and grit, but hardly the sort of material that lives up to his largess. The final track of the set, the nearly all spoken”Fragile World” comes across as cloying and preachy, even though the message still resonates in these troubled times. On the other hand, hearing his voice hit those heroic heights on a song like “Sarah Ann” manages to mute any overall discontent. Indeed, even if it sometimes seems to falter, Apache still makes the case for the singer if not the song.
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