Lil Pookie & the Zydeco Sensations, Just Want to be Me (Maison de Soul Records)

Lil Pookie & the Zydeco Sensations, Just Want to be Me (Maison de Soul Records)

Lil Pookie’s first release in more than a decade not only represents the comeback of a former child prodigy but a renewed sense of vigor for a talented front man. Pookie essentially is the Sensations—he wrote all 15 songs, tracked all vocals and played all instruments while temporarily living in the Bay Area. The only other contributor is producer Andre Thierry, a West Coast zydeco monster in his own right, who knocked out the searing guitar licks. The result is a tight, modern zydeco record that’s 100 percent dance-oriented without straying into rap, hip-hop or contemporary R&B. Those sounds do influence Pookie, though. He references “the club” (“Teddy’s Club”) and includes DJ voiceovers, and he’s attentive to the textural and sonic densities of the tracks. The pace is consistently aggressive, but the music varies texturally when he alternates punchy, single-row and gliding triple-row accordions. A fashionable comeback to say the least.