Adore The Soothing Soul Of Sam And Bobby? Try Leon Bridges (Video)

In nearly every genre of music, it’s popular to go back to the future. Whether its the early days of Bluegrass, the Slab music of Houston, or the 1970s L.A. music scene, the past is playing an important role in informing the sensibilities of new music. Somewhere in the delta where Pop, Soul, and R&B meet, enter Leon Bridges.

The 26 year-old Fort Worth, Texas native is fast-approaching his debut album Coming Home (June 23). Now signed to a legendary imprint in delivering game-changing artists, Columbia Records, Leon may be next. While the gestalt of genres has seen numerous throwback-minded crooners, whether the recent work of Raphael Saadiq or the post-Rap transformation of Aloe Blacc, the 1960s style of Soul music is coming back. With guitar in hand, Bridges carves his own lane.

“Better Man” is not only delivered with full instrumentation in a black-and-white video, the song has the warm-heated takeaway of vowing to be a better man to his significant other. The record is not entirely 1960s PG, as Leon sings about jezebels and bunched up sheets, but the message fills a void rarely heard in contemporary mainstream music. Fans of the complicated relationship records of Sam Cooke, Bobby Womack, or Otis Redding may appreciate this nostalgic nuance:

Does highly-stylized music like this still ring as authentic to you?

Related: Rest In Peace To Soul Music Icon Bobby Womack