“About the Way,” the first track from Sub-Urban’s EP Everybody Knows, understands that sometimes you don’t need an introduction.
There’s one hit from the band to start things off. Three more to settle the beat. And then Charlie Widmer starts singing. “About the way, bout the way that she talks to me / About the way, bout the way that she says to me /About the way, bout the way that she calls my name / Always.”
It’s a simple melody Widmer doesn’t need to embellish. The strength of his voice, exuding confidence and fun, lets the listener know that he and the rest of the band — MC (and brother) Fred “Eff-One” Widmer, Hector Ares on bass and backup vocals, Tom Kean on guitar, Dakota Austin on keyboard and saxophone, and Matt Spencer on drums — are in charge, and that everything’s going to be all right.
To people familiar with Widmer’s name, this shouldn’t be too surprising. Widmer is a trained operatic tenor who appeared in town most recently on the New Haven Green for Opera Palooza on Aug. 19. It’s a compliment to say, however, that you wouldn’t know that when you hear Widmer sing R&B. All that training obviously comes in handy — his singing is robust and in control at all times — but he doesn’t come across as a classical singer who’s slumming it. On Everybody Knows, Widmer is as diligent a student of R&B as he is of opera, shaping his voice to fit the genre and paying respect to the singers who have graced the microphone before him.
It helps that a tight band is there to support the Widmers, whether they’re grooving through a vamp while Eff-One is working through his verses or ratcheting things up when Charlie lets his voice soar. Ares and Spencer are a solid and responsive rhythm section, while Kean and particularly Austin prove gifted at changing up the textures of their chords and harmonies to keep the listener’s ear perked.
But the end a band like Sub-Urban rises or falls on the strength of the leads. Eff-One is an able MC, his lyrical content easy-going and friendly without being too light. He moves from relationship troubles and the downfalls of materialism, surprising with a deft lyric (“thought we had that bass, but you just left that clef”) while keeping things honest.
Paul Bass Photo
Sub-urban at Cafe Nine earlier this month.
With a singer like Charlie Widmer on board, though, it’s only right that the band takes advantage. So “Everybody Knows” features Widmer at his most nimble and rangy, with stacked vocals from Ares on the hook letting him explore what his voice can do. And on “Far Away,” singer and band are maybe at their tightest, creating gaps at the ends of lines that are filled with propulsive tension.
That this is Sub-Urban’s first release make the musicianship on display and the clean, clear production values that much more impressive. Everybody Knows makes the band a welcome addition to New Haven’s R&B scene as it starts to come into its own.