Album Review: Call It What It Is by Ben Harper & the Innocent Criminals

It took Ben Harper nine years to reconvene the Innocent Criminals for 2016's Call It What It Is, but that's not necessarily an abnormally long time for this crew: eight years separated its 2007 predecessor Lifeline from their 1999 debut, Burn to Shine. Harper formed the Innocent Criminals partially with the intention that they'd be his Band of Gypsies, a support system for him to indulge in his Jimi Hendrix daydreams, but they wound up being an even better outlet for his soulful side. Despite "Pink Balloon" and the ham-fisted opener "When Sex Was Dirty" -- bluesy bluster that pulls this closer to Lenny Kravitz than Hendrix -- Call It What It Is is largely devoted to this blissed-out, mellow vibe.

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