Deitrick HaddonR.E.D. (Restoring Everything Damaged)
RCA Inspiration (release date: September 3, 2013)
By Bob Marovich for The Black Gospel Blog
R.E.D. (Restoring Everything Damaged) is Deitrick Haddon’s most personal album to date.
Present on the twelve-song project (the deluxe version has five more cuts) are the electronic dance music and playful polyrhythms for which the singer is known. The lyrics, on the other hand, are serious and introspective, at once humbly repentant before God and defiantly fist-shaking at the “sage hypocrites,” the wolves in sheep’s clothing.
Like an album-long soliloquy, Haddon stands alone in the spotlight, acknowledging past failures and imperfections, as well as the betrayals that have left him wounded and weary. “Have you ever had to be silent while they scandalize your name?” he asks on “Just As I Am.” He is as transparent as he can be without spilling the details. The current single, “Have Your Way,” is a Cliff Notes summary of the lyrics.
The album’s message is that all souls are human and imperfect, but can be restored by Jesus’s blood, as Haddon sings on “Paint it Red” and reprises later on “Raining Red.” During “Victory,” he admits to being “a little bit wiser than I was before,” and by the reggae-fueled “Strong,” he declares that with Jesus on his side, he is “not tired yet.” “Church Rock” finds the artist with his full groove back.
Haddon’s fondness for ‘60s and ‘70s soul is evident on selections such as “You’re With Me,” complete with tinkling keyboard triplets, and the mid-tempo “Waiting (All Night).” “Feel a Breakthrough” evokes explicit or subconscious fealty to Michael Jackson’s rhythmic urgency, and “Victory” contains Prince’s muscle-twitching funk.
R.E.D. is Haddon’s sixth album with RCA Inspiration (formerly Verity Records), and his 12th album overall. “I want people to know that I’m not making music to fit a format or make church people happy,” he said. “I am making music that reflects my experience on the planet Earth as a Christian.” On R.E.D., the experience is one of life’s most crucial: the measure of the man.
Four of Five Stars
Picks: “You’re With Me,” “Waiting (All Night),” “Church Rock.”
Written by : Bob Marovich
Bob Marovich is a gospel music historian, author, and radio host. Founder of Journal of Gospel Music blog (formally The Black Gospel Blog) and producer of the Gospel Memories Radio Show.
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