Keith Sweat - Dress to Impress

Keith Sweat
Dress to Impress
2016
Spotify

I've been talking a lot about a new movement in R&B lately and how the genre is changing. This Keith Sweat album is the exact opposite of what I've been talking about. Dress to Impress is pure baby making music, get your fucking clothes off and let's get down kind of stuff. You don't hear this stuff much anymore except from Keith and R. Kelly, both of whom have managed to maintain solid careers for decades. Nothing new is going on with this record, Keith is not changing his style, he is not trying to reinvent the genre, instead he is perfectly happy staying in his lane and making the music that He always has. Most times this is a detriment and in terms of excitement Dress to Impress is not going to surprise you, but there is something that is so soothing and comfortable about his music that you can't help but sway. Keith has always taken shit for his "non-singing" but his style and delivery make up for any deficiencies he may have. The album also is not just slow jams, "Give You All of Me" is a perfectly serviceable disco track and pushes the pace and beat of the album. "Missing You" brings out another 90s R&B legend Dru Hill for yet another smooth slow jam about loving your woman right, well trodden territory indeed and don't expect these two to be reinventing the wheel.

One of the major issues with Dress to Impess is that it is an absolute slog. At just over an hour you have gotten the idea at about the halfway point. The songs not only sound the same, they are about the same thing time after time. He is fine to listen to, and letting this sort of be background music to the intimate times sounds great, but it just never ends. Listening with a critical ear is even more frustrating because there is so little to separate one track from another. The vocal runs of Keith telling his woman how good he is going to be to her get real old real fast. Twelve songs would have been merciful, but sixteen feels like some kind of cruel joke. In the final third of the record there is almost zero change in pace just one similar sounding song after another. The only proper way to describe it is brutal. Perhaps what you get in the last part of the record is not a dislike for the music, but more boredom. The first impression of Dress to Impress is a good one, great voice, fun slow jams and a great throwback listen, but as you keep going it can't hold on to that novelty. If you are currently lighting candles then Dress to Impress  might be for you, but if you are looking for a track for your next summer playlist, move along.

5.0 out of 10