From a lineage that runs from Screamin’ Jay Hawkins to Prince, Swamp Dogg (Jerry Williams Jr.) is an R&B eccentric nonpareil. Within an aesthetic that bridges Stax/Volt-styled soulfulness and psychedelia, he comes tantalizingly close more than once to becoming a star commensurate to the size of his self-effacingly weird talent. Love, Loss and Auto-Tune, as its title implies, slathers processing aplenty on Dogg’s world-weary baritone amid a barrage of disjointedly tuneful electronica. Those familiar with much of his oeuvre shouldn’t be surprised that his customary balance of rib-tickling and tear-shedding remains intact. The brilliance lies in how electro-pop maestro Ryan Olson’s and Bon Iver front-man Justin Vernon’s production so deftly bolsters Dogg’s despair. Love may not generate the kind of buzz of some artists’ career comebacks, but this perennially strange 76-year-old’s brazen and affecting reinvention should elevate his profile considerably and deservedly.
