Earth, Wind & Fire: My Promise
Details
Genre: R&BPros:
A delicious rewind to the EW&F classic sound before their Raise!/Powerlight electric era; horn arrangement soars and so does the bubbly chorusCons:
Is there a longer version out there?If it’s not broke, don’t fix it. EW&F is living the motto on new single
If it’s not broke, don’t fix it. EW&F is living the motto on new single
The last time we seriously heard new material on Earth, Wind & Fire, they were trying to sound modern and retro at the same time by working with big name producers like will.i.am, Raphael Saadiq and Jam & Lewis. Almost eight years later after their breathtaking Illumination album, the last of the greatest ’70’s funk-pop bands is reclaiming the sound that made them so eternal. On “My Promise,” they pour all the elements from their more infamous records into the pot. There’s flashy Tom Tom 84-like horns, Phillip Bailey’s soaring falsetto and the dreamy unison vocals that defined hits like “Fantasy” and “Sing a Song.” Even the opening lines of the song sounds like a sweet memento to their devout fans: “We’ve been together since we met/Soul to soul as two can get.” The jam, co-penned by Siedah Garrett and featuring returning EW&F keyboardist Larry Dunn, sounds just as good as their great stuff, even if things seem a bit too polished around the edges. And so what if their voices aren’t glistening like they did on the oldies or if longtime frontman/co-founder Maurice White seems to be lingering in the shadows of semi-retirement, the track remains true to the soul of their discography and proves to be a rewarding return to the familiar.