Allen Stone's self titled debut album for ATO Records is a thing of beauty. Not many artists are putting out such organic and funky in this way. The entire album is indie soul, which is not really a defined genre. It's true, there are many musicians who have mastered soul music, but Stone, a son of a preacher from Seattle, WA is not your typical soul artist. In fact, one look at him, and you'd expect to see him fronting an indie rock or alternative reggae band. The album's lead track and lead single "Sleep," is already making itself a huge presence on the airwaves, and rightfully so, as it is an upbeat, horn-filled, funky soul rock song that's easy to sing along and dance to. The most well written track closes out the album. "Unaware" is a lyrical masterpiece and is delivered well with the prominence of Stone's smooth and jazzy vocals and the simplicity of the acoustic guitar. Stone also enlisted some musician friends (Dave Barnes, Andy Grammer) to help cowrite some of the album's other standout, but makes a case for himself as a superior songwriter and vocalist. This is the type of music that doesn't really fit into any one classification, making it very much accessible to a plethora of music fans.
