Coming Home

Leon Bridges - Coming Home
Critic Score
Based on 23 reviews
2015 Ratings: #274 / 1021
Year End Rank: #44
User Score
Based on 254 ratings
2015 Rank: #309
Liked by 17 people
June 23, 2015 / Release Date
LP / Format
Columbia / Label
Soul, Smooth Soul / Genre
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CRITIC REVIEWS

95
Paste

Coming Home, however unintentionally, represents the spiritual cleansing and soulful healing we need right now. It’s the sound of an era where civil rights seemed so desperate, but progress also felt in reach.

90
Exclaim!

Coming Home is a star-making vehicle that is solidly crafted, robustly traditionalist and palpably soulful. This is not just a nostalgia act; this is music from the heart, and the soul.

80
Clash
Bridges' sound is the pinnacle of a young artist transmitting a dated sound and bringing it straight into the 21st century, with the final results nostalgic yet ultimately fresh and current.
80
Uncut

A throwback album also blessed with modesty. It sounds oddly refreshing, five decades on.

80
NME
‘Coming Home’ exists in a satin-swathed timewarp that takes you back 55 years.
80
PopMatters

The fact that he can make this into a compelling tale without overdramatizing the details reveals his knack for narrative. He can sing a story.

75
Consequence of Sound

Often, blatantly retro acts can feel like Halloween costumes on a trick-or-treater: an approximation of something familiar worn temporarily to get something in return. The best retro acts, though, feel more like the work of professional costumers ... On Coming Home, Bridges solidly aligns with the latter.

70
Pitchfork
While it's a little early in that journey, he has enough sheer talent that you want to stick around to see it all finally come together.
70
Rolling Stone

This retro-soul man doesn't have to work so hard to win you over on his debut LP: His smooth, Sam Cooke-esque croon makes Coming Home the best kind of nostalgia trip.

70
SPIN
For someone who picked up the guitar just four years ago and discovered his more recent inspirations shortly before that, Bridges nails the audacious ’60s affectation.
67
Pretty Much Amazing
The album is one giant, immaculate anachronism, unimpeachable, but rarely brave.
60
The Guardian
Bridges has a fantastic voice, but you sense he’s also yet to truly find it.
60
DIY
This debut sets a nice, if mostly safe, blueprint - if he opts to take more risks next time round, we’ll have a unique talent on our hands.
60
AllMusic
It's all a pleasing time warp without turbulence, one with songs built more to evoke the past than to last in one's memory.
BaldsDeepNer
69

Whole Lotta Red

ReviewForFun
90

River is one of the most beautiful songs i've heard in a while. This whole Leon Bridges album is amazing but that song, man its something special.

Top 5 Tracks: River (Best), Coming Home, Pull Away, Twistin' & Groovin, Shine

SongSmasher
75

retro revival and i love it. Has that 60's diner vibe of which i really like

ReviewForFun
90

River is one of the most beautiful songs i've heard in a while. This whole Leon Bridges album is amazing but that song, man its something special.

Top 5 Tracks: River (Best), Coming Home, Pull Away, Twistin' & Groovin, Shine

Dosblop
70

Pretty decent and enjoyable nu-soul album. Does get pretty boring after the first 4 tracks unfortunately.

79

Although I like the throwback sound of this album I think the newer styles Leon has been exploring are more interesting. However, that being said this album is so much fun to listen to. River is a powerhouse of a song that serves as a great closer and Lisa Sawyer demonstrates wonderful storytelling and melodies.

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Track List

1Coming Home
3:26
81
2Better Man
2:21
71
3Brown Skin Girl
3:26
71
4Smooth Sailin'
3:07
64
5Shine
3:38
63
6Lisa Sawyer
4:05
63
7Flowers
2:57
64
8Pull Away
3:02
65
9Twistin' & Groovin'
4:14
69
10River
3:58
84
Total Length: 34 minutes
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Added on: June 3, 2015