The Milk Carton Files

Anybody remember this dude? Well, here's a little refresher course. His name is Glenn Lewis. Back in 2002, the Canada native released his debut album World Outside My Window. Due to an uncanny voice similarity, he was often compared to soul legend Stevie Wonder. Quickly lumped into the Neo Soul sub-genre, his debut proved to be successful by reaching #4 on the Billboard charts. In 2003, Lewis prepped for his second release Back for More and even released a single by the same name. After that, however, he pretty much disappeared. No album ever materialized.

I must admit up until a few months ago I had pretty much forgotten about him. That's really unfortunate because an artist with his caliber of talent should never be forgotten. In the earlier part of the year something compelled me to pull out my copy of Window. After having it on repeat for about three days I remembered why I liked him in the first place. Yes, he sounded like Stevie, but it was more than that. He made beautiful music. Most of his debut had that throwback sound of most "neo-soul" artist of the day, but there was something about his songs that were almost timeless. The fact that I can listen to it almost six years later and see a place for him and his music in today's market is a testament to that fact. Lets be real, this six year old album is better than about 60% of the R&B out now. After thinking about all this I was left wonder what happened to Glenn Lewis. So being the inquisitve (nosy) person I am, I decided to look him up. Boy did I find him!

Apparently, he's not signed to a major label anymore and he's still recording songs. His new stuff sounds much better than his first album. Which says a lot. He dropped the soul-man schtick,which I assume was forced on him in the first place by his label. His newer music seems a lot more comfortable to me. More like he's in his zone. It's definitely a lot sexier. One new song "House On A Beach" samples Marvin Gaye's classic "Sexual Healing", but still comes into its own as a smooth groove worthy of anybody's quiet storm mix.

Another new one titled "Remember Me" showcases his vocal ability. The simplistic track definitely plays up his vocals and the harmonies are to die for.He doesn't sound so much like Stevie anymore. And that's a good thing. All this new music had definitely gotten me excited, but I'm also a little worried. While I was on my Glenn Lewis search mission, I came across an interview he did last year. In it he said something to the effect of the artist with the most heart often get lost in the shuffle. And it appears that is very much what happened in his case. It sucks for him. It really does. It also sucks for the fans. I'm a sucker for a quality R&B track. Especially ones devoid of autotune and other trendy/what's hot in the streets qualities. So giving me access to this great material is like putting a kid's Christmas toys on display in a big glass box but not letting them actually touch them until the day after Christmas. Sounds crazy, but that's exactly how this feels. Which is why I sincerely hope he gets to put out another album. Either way, you can check out what Mr. Lewis has been up to these days at: www.myspace.com/glnumuzk and www.myspace.com/wwwglennlewismusiccom