LOS ANGELES, CA- It’s been years since I photographed Curtis Harding’s show at The El Rey, but the memory hasn’t faded. I remember him stepping onto the stage in a cardigan and sunglasses, channeling a kind of laid-back cool that felt more inherited than affected. His voice, however, was the real revelation: gospel-rooted, soul-drenched, and so clean you could see your own reflection in it. He was, as my colleague Max Sloves once put it, “the love child of Sam Cooke and Jeffrey Lebowski.” That night, it felt like Curtis Harding was carrying soul music into the present, preserving its essence while pushing its edges.
That same spirit is alive and well on “Time,” a standout track from Harding’s upcoming concept album Departures & Arrivals: Adventures of Captain Curt. The track is a throwback in the best sense, evoking the horn-swelled grandeur and call-and-response urgency of vintage soul, while staying grounded in the concerns of today. It’s classic Curtis: familiar in tone, but sharp with intent.
Produced at Electric Deluxe Recorders, the Austin studio owned by Adrian Quesada (of Black Pumas fame), “Time” feels both cosmically expansive and intimately grounded. The smoldering horns that open the track are pure Muscle Shoals, while the layered vocals offer a kind of church-like warmth. You can practically feel the tambourine and organ pulsing beneath the surface, as Harding sings of faith, resilience, and the slow process of healing.
But what makes “Time” especially moving is its lyrical core. This isn’t just soul music sonically; it’s soul music thematically. “All you got to do is believe / Stand on up and say it again,” Harding sings, channeling the kind of mantras that echoed through Black churches and civil rights rallies alike. There’s something almost sermon-like about the way he delivers lines like “Don’t give up on what you have / Because what you got they might lack.” It’s a reminder that self-worth, patience, and service to others aren’t just moral values. They’re survival tools.
This is soul as reassurance, and soul as resistance.
The lyrics read like a letter from someone who’s seen hard times but refuses to give in to cynicism. “It might be dark, but God it’s okay,” he sings, and you believe him. That sentiment feels especially resonant now, when so much of our collective experience has been marked by anxiety and dislocation.
That blend of vintage warmth and present-tense is what makes “Time” more than just a throwback track. It’s a song that emphasizes that belief and persistence are enough to push through. It’s a message wrapped in brass, blessed harmonies, and a voice forged in gospel. And that’s exactly why I think this track timeless.
With a European tour kicking off this October and Departures & Arrivals is feeling like it’s going to be Curtis’ most ambitious project yet… and I’m here for the ride.
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TOUR DATES
Oct 17 – Madrid, Spain @ Wagon
Oct 18 – Barcelona, Spain @ Sala Paral•lel 62
Oct 21 – Bologna, Italy @ TPO
Oct 23 – Rome, Italy @ MONK
Oct 24 – Milan, Italy @ Santeria Toscana 31
Oct 26 – Bern, Switzerland @ Mühle Hunziken
Oct 28 – Paris, France @ L’Olympia
Oct 30 – Berlin, Germany @ Festaal Kreuzberg
Oct 31 – Copenhagen, Denmark @ Musikforeningen Loppen
Nov 1 – Hamburg, Germany @ Grosse Freiheit 36
Nov 3 – Utrecht, Netherlands @ TivoliVredenburg Ronda
Nov 4 – Cologne, Germany @ Essigfabrik
Nov 5 – Brussels, Belgium @ Botanique Orangerie
Nov 9 – Dublin, Ireland @ Opium
Nov 10 – Glasgow, United Kingdom @ Óran Mór
Nov 11 – Manchester, United Kingdom @ Gorilla
Nov 12 – London, United Kingdom @ O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire
