Ned Raggett指出，Mark Anthony Thompson的新作《Black Music》在发布前经历了近十年的时间，这反映了唱片公司对黑人音乐的认知以及商业环境中个体创作往往得不到支持的现实。幸运的是，《Black Music》让Thompson在其音乐生涯的巅峰状态中回归，他的才华和广泛的音乐品味在专辑中得到了清晰的体现。从一首结合了Dixieland爵士与民谣的曲目开场，到隐藏的原声版本的精彩慢热灵魂曲《Half a Man》结束，Thompson几乎尝试了所有他感兴趣的风格。在《Black Music》发布时，人们将他与风格同样模糊的创作歌手如Prince和Jeff Buckley进行比较，但Thompson始终是他自己独特的艺术家。他的声音涵盖了从假声到沙哑蓝调的广泛音域，表现出色，而他对旋律的敏感和多样的表现手法则在油腻的R&B与原声、艺术摇滚风格的内省之间游走。《Stupid Again》这样的歌曲让人联想到他是Radiohead的粉丝。尽管《Black Music》在某些时刻的表现未必如预期那样突出，但当他发力时，效果却是相当强烈。《My Mom》是一首温柔而令人心痛的反思，探讨了时间对记忆和个人联系的侵蚀，Thompson的沙哑嗓音伴随着原声拨弦、低音弦乐和最柔和的节奏。其他亮点包括《Safe and Sound》，其逐渐上升的颂歌般的构建突然转变为一段粗糙录制的鼓乐即兴演奏，毫不拖沓，以及《Hangover Nine》的阴郁而美丽的缓慢节奏，这是专辑中他展示出色萨克斯演奏能力的几个时刻之一。by Ned RaggettThat Mark Anthony Thompson went nearly a decade between releases says something about both record companies' perception of what, indeed, black music is and the realities of a business situation where the individual approach is the least likely thing to get any cohesive support. Happily, Black Music found Thompson on top of his game thanks to his talent and wide-ranging tastes, which have a clear echo in the reach of the album. He may start with a Dixieland jazz-meets-folk number and end with a hidden acoustic rendition of the fantastic slow-burn soul"Half a Man," but in between he tries just about anything that takes his fancy. Comparisons were made to similarly genre-elusive singer/songwriters like Prince and Jeff Buckley upon Black Music's release, but Thompson is his own man through and through. His voice tackles ranges from falsetto to gravelly blues and comes up trumps, while his ear for hooks and varying approaches skip between greasy R&B to acoustic, art rock-tinged introspection -- it's not too surprising after listening to songs like"Stupid Again" to learn that he's a Radiohead fan. If there's a weakness to Black Music, it's that Thompson's strong enough to avoid sounding like an aimless dabbler, but at points can't really make his syntheses stand out as well as could be hoped. When he hits, though, he hits hard."My Mom," a tender, harrowing reflection on the ravages of time on memory and personal connection, has both the lyrical and musical impact to matter, with Thompson's husky singing backed by acoustic plucking, low strings, and the softest of rhythms. Other strong points include"Safe and Sound," with its rising, anthemic build suddenly shifting into a roughly recorded drum jam without missing a step, and the moody-yet-pretty crawl of"Hangover Nine," one of several moments on the album where he showcases his fine sax abilities.