Artist Patrick Stump

As the lead singer of Fall Out Boy, which is now on semi-permanent hiatus, Patrick Stump really stood out. His soulful voice soared above thundering drumlines and overly complicated diatribes, making the band one of the more musically successful in the early-’00s emo movement. Slimmed down and solo now, Stump has embraced his inner Prince and found his soulful side. With his debut record, Soul Punk, Stump’s been floating tracks and a teaser EP, Truant Wave, online for a while. The full-length does suffer a lot from being too full of click tracks, beats, and bombast, but it’s a fairly adequate debut. The first single, “Spotlight (Oh Nostalgia)” is borderline cheesy in its uplift, but it’s one of the best tracks of the year so far, hands down. 

Updated 11/02/2011