Bearing a title not even
Leon Ware
would have likely considered, this album is
Smokey Robinson
's first project based on original material since 2009's
Time Flies When You're Having Fun
. Eager to make it known that he still has warm thoughts to spare,
Robinson
titles seven of these nine songs using "you," "me," or "I" -- in stating what he does, wants to do, or has done for him -- and the other two are "Roll Around" and "Gasms." The coasting title song and more blues-tinged groove "I Fit in There," the opening and closing numbers, are humorously raunchy enough to function as surrogate
Marvin Sease
jams.
takes it to another level by not holding back with his warbling vibrato, adding a lilt to each of his many assurances that his lady pleases him and that he belongs. For the most part, however,
Gasms
is a collection of clean and pleasant love songs
tailors (with occasional co-writers) for his soft, sweet vocals. Like
Time Flies
, it's an organic session that uses many of the same musicians, including keyboardist
David Garfield
, bassist
Freddie Washington
, drummer
Ricky Lawson
, and guitarists
Paul Jackson, Jr.
and
Ray Parker, Jr.
The players keep it low-key enough to frame
's voice without drowning it out, and the material generally sounds current without concessions to mainstream R&B. Apart from the deliberately brow-raising content, it's truly jarring only when
briefly gets negative with the description "totally wack" -- rhymed with "sugar shack," most certainly not in reference to
Jimmy Gilmer & the Fireballs
. ~ Andy Kellman