On the face of it, you could go two ways with an album title like Faithful Man. One is the route of religious faith, and the other goes in a different direction, as in "I'll be faithful to you, girl." Well, Lee Fields hasn't suddenly turned to making gospel records, so you pretty much know what kind of record this is lyrically. In fact, it entirely avoids the topical detours that peppered his last album, My World, in favor of love, loss, and longing, and it also finds a third way to be faithful in the sound of the music, which is old-school in every respect. Don't call it a throwback, though. Fields has been doing this since 1969, so in his case it's more a matter of sticking to your guns.
The old school in the case of this record isn't any particular soul scene. Faithful Man isn't indebted specifically to Atlantic or Stax or Philadelphia International or Chess or Fame or Motown so much as it's indebted to all of them at once, building out every song with towering horn arrangements, strings, and background vocals to augment the band. In some cases, it's a little too crowded. Fields has a good voice, but it's a fairly light instrument, and he can't overwhelm an orchestra the way a Marvin Gaye or Sam Cooke could, so occasionally he sounds a little like he's shouting to be heard over it. Inevitably, the songs that take a lighter or at least more varied approach to arrangement serve him best.
"Moonlight Mile" in particular is a great showcase, backing him up with a bit of coral sitar and trembling flute, while a dark-toned electric piano carries the chords. It's one of a few songs that stretches the musical template into unique and challenging territory, and another reason that this comes off as much more than a throwback. Playing with the rules of your genre is a good sign you're in true command of it, and Fields does that. Check the way "You're the Kind of Girl" sets itself up as a nice and catchy pop-soul tune and then takes a completely unexpected left turn into subtle psychedelia near the end, dropping the orchestra out entirely at one point to let Fields just run with the drums for a bit.
If there's anything that keeps Faithful Man from equaling My World, aside from the occasional orchestral overkill, it's that the songwriting overall isn't quite as strong. If success really is mostly perspiration, Fields and his band get us 99% of the way there with his performance, but that other 1% is pretty crucial. One exception to both flaws is the fantastic closer "Walk on Thru That Door", which makes overkill work entirely in its favor and also happens to be a killer song. The arrangement channels Hot Buttered Soul in a big way with its fuzz guitar facing off against piles of strings and horns, but it knows when to pull back and let Fields take over. A little more of that balance might've gone a long way on the rest of the record, but Faithful Man is still a very enjoyable outing.
