Joshua Worden ‘Always This’ Review: Silky and Smooth

In the vein of Frank Ocean and classic R&B, Jazz and even Blues, Joshua Worden’s “Always This” is an album that satisfies in a smoky cocktail lounge as well as it does for someone in need of serious thought.

Downright mellow tunes accompany the sexy vocals and make the album a perfect companion for a romantic night or an unforgettable one night stand.

Worden’s voice can best be described as a sad, but serious Adam Levine with a tint of early ’90s R&B. A classically-trained jazz musician, the song have jazz sensibilities, but will easily cater to pop fans in the mood for something deeper and mellowed. Tucked into every song, whether it be a nifty guitar or piano solo, some synth or even hand-claps, the songs have the type of musical depth Levine and other pop stars could only imagine.

Recorded in his home studio, you don’t expect much at first, but the sound fidelity is amazing. If this guy was signed to a major label and had the best in the world producing his work, he’d be a leading voice in this current resurgence in “slow burn” soul. Void of trickery and tools, Worden’s vocal and musical abilities are presented in such an open-hearted way that it’s almost impossible to not respect the polish on the album.

Deserving multiple listens, every song on the album has this almost “toy at the bottom” feel. Even after a few go-rounds, you’ll find something new.

In “Like a Rose,” Worden uses the piano and stereotypical R&B beats and fuses it with some electronica and catchy, yet poetic lyrics to make one of the cooler entries on the album. The guitar solo on “The Turning Quiet,” mixes in beautifully with the background vocals and electronic mixing, creating the type of song that goes down as easy as a glass of lemonade on a warm summer day. Like a wonderful piece of classical music, it’s great for pondering your thoughts. It seems to just fade into your existence, almost merging itself with the moment. It could easily find itself on a television show or film. It has that type of appeal.

In a day where albums don’t have the same mainstream appeal as singles, Worden creates an adventure that ultimately can take three minutes or longer, depending on your hunkering for it. It’s the type of stuff that never makes itself a burden. If it was on in an elevator, you’d leave tapping your feet. Soft and warm, it’ll almost attach itself to you.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 14230 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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