I can’t say that I am a particular fan of that nineties r&b sound but, as yesterday is so often the start of a new today, it seemed entirely reasonable to take a listen to “Matches” by Haley Smalls.
Haley Smalls hails from Canada and, on the evidence of these ten songs, she has indeed mastered the sounds and feel of those bygone days. Naturally, the lyrics to her songs exude the emotion and sentiments of those past times and therefore provide a quite interesting contrast to the rather more forceful and unsentimental intent expected of a singer of today. In some ways, that makes it something of a challenge for any singer as there are so many existing examples in competition for the listener’s ears and it is therefore essential that a singer has the kind of voice that suits these, mainly mid-paced songs, and, fortunately, Haley Smalls has such a voice. This album isn’t, therefore, dance music. It is instead an evocation of the modernised version of soul music that came into being as the upwardly mobile urban lifestyle shifted those populist sonic preferences from the heart to the latest fashion even if the heart is the still – as it should be - the beat that keeps these songs on track.
Haley Smalls convinces on this album and, if your musical tastes hark for something that reminds you of those days when bling was still an optional extra, you might well find “Matches” will light your fire.