Peven Everett

This 2002 release is one of Peven Everett's limited-pressing, self-released albums -- in fact, it's so limited that Everett personally signed each copy and thanked those who bought it. A handful of these songs would eventually resurface on Studio Confessions, his proper full-length debut for ABB, but there's still plenty left over to make it relevant in the later disc's wake. Largely an R&B-based affair for this musical chameleon, Speed of Light's quality hardly befits the stature of the average homespun recording that hits a couple stores consignment-style and rots in the bins. When Everett's in R&B mode, he's able to distinguish himself from his peers by approaching his songs with the sensibilities of a dance producer. He often uses repetition to great effect ("Forilla," "Testin' Me") and realizes when a groove is so easy to sink into that it must be exploited to its full, however appropriate, extent. Intricately nuanced songs like "Good Lovin'" and "Puerto Rico" thrive on polyrhythms and pull off Latin colors without sounding like mere dabblings. Everett also knows when to lay on the textures and when to leave them off -- see "Love Affair," a skeletal track where he allows you to swim in the deep tones created by little more than a machine rhythm and subdued keyboards. And there's no doubting that his voice is extremely inviting, soft, and full of feeling. ~ Andy Kellman, All Music Guide