Calvin Richardson is back with his X album called “America’s Most Wanted”. Calvin to me is very old soul, very old school croon style. His songs tend to hearken back to those songs of back in the day and this album is no exception. While Rafael Saadiq, Eric Benet and even Anthony Hamilton came out with that old school reminiscent of the 50′s and 60′s, Calvin was already pumping out that gravelly, velvety voice of his with those oh so familiar old school melodies.

1. America’s Most Wanted
Produced by Calvin Richardson and Robert Perry
The song has an old school feel as most of the album. Its a sweet adulation of a lady Calvin is admiring as she is “America’s Most Wanted” This is a nice cool out song, mid tempo, just relaxing and nice.

2.Never Do You Wrong
Produced by Calvin Richardson and Robert Perry
Another old school feel reminiscent of (O’Jays song?). Calvin is pleading with his lady that what she saw between him and another lady isn’t what she thinks went down. His elementary and laughable word play is prominent in this song “shaking like a leaf on a tree” and “On your beach, I’ve found my pearl”

3. Feels Like We Sexin
Produced by Calvin Richardson and Robert Perry
OK, this song makes me laugh just because it just feels like a corny porno intro (this coming from someone that doesn’t watch pornos tho). The first words out of his mouth are “I feel sexy tonight, do you feel sexy tonight…I wanna hit your switches, turn you on, baby come on!” It also makes me laugh that this very much feels like a stepper song, so I can just picture old or middle-aged folk in their freshest threads (read; 70′s garb) tryna’ look their sexiest stepping on the floor dancing together. Cute, but funny. So Calvin must be feelin’ this too cause he references that it “feels like we’re sexin’ when we dance.” and “Look your partner in the eye and twist her body side to side” Its just a fun, up tempo dance song that I cant take seriously, but it’s cute.

4. You’re So Amazing
Produced by Calvin Richardson and Robert Perry
Calvin loves similes, he starts out “I done been through the river, swam up the stream, stood on the mountain top, I swear it leaned, like Martin Luther said, I had a dream, but I never stopped loving you girl….You’re so AMAZING GIRL!” He has very outdoorsy and seasonal similes in his song writing all the time. Anyway, Calvin is cooing about the love he has for his girl. Its sweet, a true love song and he is really lovely at this.

5. Thug Livin’
Produced by Calvin Richardson and Robert Perry
Aight, I’m ALREADY smirking at this title…like what exactly is thug livin’, Calvin? Call me a square cause I have no clue. But the song comes on with a mid-tempo bluesy type feel that Calvin is SO good at crooning with. But at any rate, the song is Calvin promising to his girl that he’s gonna give up the street life because he doesn’t want to hurt her. He then goes on to say he was the first to roll “20′s down the street”. But now that the “ghetto life’ is getting old, he’s gonna “come up out these streets”. Noble, loving, admirable, hilarious, but I like the sentiment.

6. Come Over
Produced by Calvin Richardson and Robert Perry
Ooh, another oldie sounding song…50′s slow jam even. The song title is pretty self-explanatory, he wants to come over his girl’s place because he “is in need of your company tonight”. I like this song because you can really see him singing in the booth with emotion. I love how he sings his songs like it’s the last song he’ll ever record. This song sounds like it would sound really great live and it has a really majestic, broad sound that folk in the audience can wave their hands left to right with while leaning on their bew cakes.

7. You Possess My Body
Produced by Calvin Richardson and Robert Perry
What is WITH Calvin on this CD…he is in mighty need of a female, like YESTERDAY! AGAIN, the hilarious word play “Whas this food for, I don’t wanna eat baby / whas this bed for, I cant even sleep lately / unless you gonna feed me, girl, you the one I want to put me to sleep baby.” This song is a mid-tempo two stepper…kind of a breezy, car windows down rider. But yea, Calvin is again waxing poetic about how intensely he feels for his girl and that she is the only remedy for him. Maybe reminiscent of what Marvin talked about…NOT the same caliber, but basically the same sentiment. I love Calvin that if for nothing, he is not shy about bearing his soul about how much he loves, wants, and cherishes the love he has for his woman. Nice love song.

8. Reach Out
Featuring Nadia; Produced by Calvin Richardson and Robert Perry
Another old school feeling song…(I’m tryna’ figure out if its just the song or the way Calvin sings with it…probably both). THIS song is hilarious because the chorus features a female fast clapping and heavy sighs to the beat. Then the second chorus Calvin does the claps and “sighs” only his sounds like he’s tryna’ shoo someone away with a barely there sigh at the end. I have no idea why the female’s sighs are so much more over the top sexually than the man’s? The track itself is a mid-tempo jam that details lyrically, how good the sex is.

9. Adore You
Produced by Calvin Richardson and Robert Perry
I like this song…another love song, we need more of those. Who can resist “you make my heart smile and sing now, you make me want to buy a ring now” Awwwwwww! Its a nice mid-tempo hip swaying song.

10. Monday Morning
Produced by Calvin Richardson and Robert Perry
Ahh, a song I can relate too about not feeling like dragging yourself into work on a Monday morning. He’s talking about the ills of the world as a whole and trying to overcome feeling like the world is on your shoulders. On the second verse he’s sitting down on the curb asking a homeless person about themselves (even sharing his food), how they got there and what he sees them doing everyday…very touching. I think i love this song and will put this in my Monday morning pick me up rotation….what?…it picks ME up.

11. Paradise
Produced by Calvin Richardson and Robert Perry
This is an uptempo club song which basically is about Calvin talking about a sexy lady he’s met at the club that he wants to take back home with him. Nothing new here. He mentions how her butt is jiggling in her jeans and for her to show him somethin’. He goes on to say that her body “feels like paradise, you should come over, let me see something with my private eyes” (yea, again with the laughable word play). The song has the keyboard horns punctuating the beat while the background sings “Show me something girl, baby its your world!”

12. Spur 12
Featuring Calvin Richardson; Produced by Calvin Richardson and Robert Perry
This is a interlude/respite from “Paradise” in which Calvin is knocking on “another man’s door” just to see a girl that he’s deep in love with.

Bottom Line:
This album is really for those of us that like that record to put on during the cool rainy night in or while cleaning the house in between Stevie and Chaka. Its old school but new and familiar and its about LOVE. We NEED more love music, no?! I like this album because of that fact alone as it doesn’t have real overt sexual language, he’s crooning about his feelings for his lady and just how bad he wants her and it doesn’t feel like he’s molesting you in the process. This album is right in line with Calvin’s previous albums, nothing really new from him, but that to me is OK, because he started off right. If you want to add just a good, solid love album to your repertoire, this is a good one to buy.

Soulections: “Come Over”, “Monday Morning”

Listen: Calvin Richardson – “Come Over”

[audio:http://soulections.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/06-Come-Over.mp3|titles=06 Come Over]