Pull it all back. Slow it all down. Strip our lives to their nails and bones, to the string and tape that hold them together sometimes. We find that we're aimless but for one aspect. There is always that pull for companionship, for the heat that comes from a connection two people inexplicably stumble upon. We could have no money and lacking everywhere else, but the need and the want for someone to love is insufferable at times. Men and women go mad worrying about it.
Texas soul man Johnny Stimson effortlessly brings us to that intersection of need and want — when something that feels like love could be on the line. His emotive and lusty take on love comes from the seeker's point of view. It comes from the confident and experienced hunter's steady aim. Stimson and band make music that stuns with an air of Justin Timberlake and Hall & Oates, with some of the well-dressed, big band classiness that Frank Sinatra or Otis Redding used to deliver. It makes for a combination that's not for the ponderous but for those who are actively stepping into those fires. Stimson makes us appreciate the slow moves and the rapid advances. He's a ladies man with the easy touch and the golden heart to match.