In a time when classic soul men are in short supply, Carencro’s Marc Broussard jumps hip deep into the brink. Keep Coming Back believes in the soul verities of the ’60s and ’70s—passion, groove, and a Stevie Wonder-like jazz sense in the unpredictable chord changes. As Broussard’s cover album S.O.S.: Save Our Soul demonstrated, he’s got the pipes to sing soul, so he sounds right at home in these classic settings. Sometimes, they’re too familiar; the fuzzed guitar in the opening of “Hard Knocks” is a slightly slowed version of the signature riff in the Isley Brothers’ “Who’s That Lady.” But as is so often the case on Keep Coming Back, the song pays off and you’re inclined to take the line as homage, not lift.

Still, I look forward to the day when I hear a Broussard record and feel like I know him. The artists we remember and return to give us the material to form impressions of them in our minds; we feel like we know them. Broussard sings us songs, but the lyrics could come from anybody. They could be 30 years old or written last month. They could be written by someone from Cajun Country or Salt Lake City or Des Moines—any place where people fall in and out of love and go through life’s trials. His music is similarly evocative of other times and places, so there’s no sense that he comes from anywhere. Each track is a winner on its own, and “Real Good Thing” has a killer chorus, but without idiosyncrasy,
Keep Coming Back is a good time that doesn’t live beyond its almost 50-minute running time.