More than three years after the release of its then latest album, Another Shot Fired, neo-soul/funk outfit The Tibbs finally released its latest album this weekend.  Keep It To Yourself dropped Friday through Record Kicks.  The 12-song record is the group’s third album and just with each of its predecessors (which were also released through Record Kicks), it is a presentation that audiences will find so fun from beginning to end.  Spanning a run time of 46 minutes, its success comes in part through its featured musical arrangements, which will be discussed shortly.  The lyrical content that accompanies that musical content adds to the enjoyment in its own right and will be examined a little later.  The sequencing of said content brings everything together and puts the finishing touch to the presentation.  It will also be examined later.  Each item noted here is important in its own way to the whole of this record.  All things considered they make Keep It To Yourself a record that audiences should not keep to themselves, but rather, spread to everyone they know.

Keep It To Yourself, the latest album from The Tibbs is another largely successful offering from the neo-soul/funk outfit.  The group’s third album, it is everything that audiences have come to expect from the group.  That includes its musical foundation.  Throughout the course of the album’s nearly 50-miunte run time, the arrangements are once again very much the noted neo-soul/funk sounds for which the group has come to be known.  The use of the horns, the funky time keeping, and the guitars pair with vocalist Roxanne Hartog’s talents to make this record’s musical content sound like material saved in a time capsule from the golden age of Motown.  Case in point is the album’s penultimate entry, ‘Rosie.’  What sounds like a Hammond B-3 organ couples with the steady time keeping (which boasts its own funky edge) and those velvety vocals from Hartog to make the song throw back so lovingly to that noted era.  That especially as the horns come into play alongside those noted performances.  ‘In Orbit,’ the album’s closer is that slow jam to which any listener can dance arm in arm.  Again this song’s arrangement sounds just like something from that bygone age in its subtle presentation.

On another note, a song, such as the somewhat earlier entry, ‘Give Me a Reason’ takes audiences in a slightly different direction.  The use of the guitar line and the horns here gives the song’s arrangement its own infectious sound and style.  It is such a fun work that has all of the edge of the soul works from the best days of the genre.  The difference in this song’s arrangement from the other examined arrangements (and those of the rest of the album’s entries) is clear even with the style being very much the same.  Even with that similarity in the songs’ stylistic approach, audiences who immerse themselves in the record will note the differences in each of the compositions.  That realization will lead most if not all listeners to fully appreciate all of the musical arrangements presented throughout the album.

The arrangements exhibited throughout Keep It To Yourself are collectively just one part of what makes the album successful.  The lyrical themes that accompany said content makes for its own interest.  That is because of the variety of topics covered across the songs.  As is noted in information provided about the album, its themes range from the familiar love gained and lost to social matters and matters in-between.  Going back to ‘Give Me A Reason,’ this song’s theme is an empowering message that most female listeners will appreciate.  In this work, Hartog sings to a man as the song’s subject, “Give me a reason/To go out of my way for you/When I already feel/You’ve got so much to prove/You need to give me a reason/Substantial evidence/But you won’t waste the time/That I’m willing to put in…”  The next lines are a little difficult to decipher sans lyrics to reference but even with that in mind, the message is clear.  This is a self-assured woman who is not going to just give in to a man.  The message is heightened as she sings in the song’s second verse, “You need to give me a reason/’Cause this ain’t gonna fly/I’m not your comfort blanket/No kitchen maid or housewife…/I’m gonna need some convincing/Because I’ve been through this time and time again/I don’t feel like showing my colors to someone I know ain’t gonna see all the shades/Baby, don’t even bother…”  She even adds that her cards are on the table.  Again, here is a woman who openly states she has been there and done that and is done going through it again.  This is a message of power that every female listener will appreciate.

Even earlier in the album’s run, ‘Can’t Teach An Old Dog New Tricks’ changes things up and seemingly turns things in the noted social direction.  In the case of this song, its theme seems to be a commentary of being willing to change and grow.  This is inferred as Hartog sings in the song’s lead verse and chorus, “Stuck in your place/You won’t find/All my days/Can’t say you didn’t try/Hot-headed/You got your heels in the sand/Turn your future/To your own end/Turn it on/In your own time…”  The wording is somewhat fragmented here but is still just able to be interpreted.  This especially with the later mention of a person trying to get their next fix.  This is someone who is stuck in his or her old ways and outright refuses to change.  Thus the title of the song.  This is someone who will not change despite the best efforts of others.  It is that social commentary of which the noted provided media information noted.

The seeming social commentary continues later in the record in the form of ‘Pyjama Party.’  Much of this song’s lyrics are difficult to decipher sans lyrics to reference.  However, the song’s chorus delivers just enough content to understand and interpret the theme.  In this case, Hartog sings of getting “back to the moment” and “out of your head”; getting one’s self “together” and encouraging listeners to get out of bed and get out in the world.  In other words, we have got to stop letting our doubts and insecurities, our own mental states keep us from living our lives as best we can.  Again, this is just this critic’s interpretation.  From what little can be understood in the verses, this message increasingly appears the case.  The upbeat vibe of the song’s musical arrangement builds on the message and in turn makes the song yet another enjoyable work in whole.  When the theme here is considered along with those in the other examined works and with those of the rest of the album’s entries, the whole therein makes clear why the lyrical content featured in the record are just as important as the album’s musical arrangements.

As much as the musical and lyrical content does to make Keep It To Yourself so enjoyable, it is only part of the record’s overall picture.  The sequencing of that content brings everything full circle and completes the presentation.  Listeners who fully immerse themselves in the album will note that, again, the stylistic approach taken to each arrangement is similar but the overall arrangements are subtly unique of one another.  They change just enough from one song to the next to keep things interesting.  This is proof of the time and thought that went into the sequencing.  Those behind this aspect clearly took those subtleties into account to keep the record engaging and entertaining.  At the same time, the themes change up just enough, too.  The result is that the changes in the themes do just enough to keep listeners’ ears, too.  All things considered, the time and thought that went into the sequencing paid off just as much as the record’s content.  It gives the album a positive aesthetic.  The whole therein makes Keep It To Yourself an enjoyable overall presentation.

Keep It To Yourself, the latest album from The Tibbs, is an enjoyable presentation from the opening of its nearly 50-minute run to its finale.  It succeeds in part because of its musical arrangements.  The arrangements all follow a similar stylistic approach, throwing back to the vintage Motown, soul and R&B sounds of days gone bye while also giving them a welcome new life.  Giving them that new life includes ensuring each arrangement boasts its own subtle sound unique from its counterparts.  The lyrical themes presented throughout the record are just as important as its musical content.  That is because of its familiarity and accessibility.  The sequencing of that collective content puts the finishing touch to the album’s presentation, finishing the presentation.  It ensures a positive aesthetic aspect of the album.  Each item examined is important in its own way to this 12-song record.  All things considered they make the album another offering from The Tibbs that should be spread to audiences everywhere.

Keep It To Yourself is available now through Record Kicks.  More information on the album is available along with all of the group’s latest news at:

Website: https://www.thetibbs.nl

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thetibbs