While trying to describe Dan Dyer’s sound to a friend recently, I said, “He re-minds me of Jay Kay from from Jamiroquai.” To which my friend responded, “Oh, that Stevie Wonder sound? Cool!” Yeah, that Jay Kay/Stevie Wonder sound is there, but the Austinite’s self-titled album also drips with the bayou-moss, sticky-humidity funk of his East Texas/Louisiana border hometown, plenty of blue-eyed soul falsetto, his alternately twinkly and dangerous electric piano and gospel influences galore. Not to mention very dynamic songs — in short, all the elements needed for another breakthrough. Dyer’s already had two, first as a member of Breedlove, and again when Lenny Kravitz helmed and released his first solo album, … Of What Lies Beneath. Dyer’s got an expressive way with a relationship song, of which there are many here. “Sorry, Baby,” “Play on Little Children” and the wrenching album closer “All” chronicle the apparent split of a family and lay bare every painful nerve ending that accompanies it. “Who I Am” reflects the Brazilian bent of producer David Boyle, who also works with Bebel Gilberto, and features Thievery Corp.’s John Nelson. “Love Chain,” the sexy opener, has a gospel choir, and Austin notables appear throughout. The only cover, “I Walk on Guilded Splinters,” does justice to Dr. John’s version. In the world of soul, paying homage is all-important, and Dyer does it well while not sounding at all imitative or derivative.
