Hold On! is the fourth album by the rocking soul man James Hunter and his stalwart sextet. Daptone's Gabriel Roth produced the excellent Minute by Minute in 2013, but this is the band's debut for the label. Hold On! was recorded live in the studio, but Roth and Hunter decided on mono to best capture the immediacy of the performances. The songwriter has recorded only original material since 2006, and these ten tracks are no exception. What separates this date from previous outings – excellent though they all were – isn't the mono production, but the diversity in songwriting, rhythmic invention, and arranging. "This Is Where We Came In" may contain a simmering organ, but doo wop-esque backing vocals from Gregory Lee, Alex Desert, and Malik Moore elevate it (and the two other cuts they appear on) beyond the early pop-soul framework that it comes adorned in. So do the cha-cha rhythms, rhumba fills, and comps from Andrew Kingslow's piano.
