New Albums
LEON BRIDGES
Gold-Diggers Sound
Seductive update for Grammy-winning Texan’s third
COLUMBIA
7/10
His 2015 debut shunted Bridges into the spotlight with its immaculate – some might say overly studied – reprise of ’60s Southern soul. The follow-up was a transitional set, but now he’s tipped the balance in favour of modern R&B-soul, à la Blood Orange. “Sho Nuff” and “Details” lean more toward the ‘old’ Bridges – he’s satisfying two audiences, clearly – while “WDYTM” is too syrupy, but there are fresh beats, moods and textures, plus guests including Terrace Martin (on the yearning “Sweeter”) and Robert Glasper (the gorgeous, gliding “Born Again”). That Bridges’ voice, with its mix of rapture and hurt, is a thing of effortless beauty hardly needs repeating.