I can’t decide which track is Allen Stone’s capstone moment on his self-titled second record. The vocal-domination of “Unaware” is equalled easily by the over-the-top energy of call-and-response bounce-along “Say So” and funk jam “Satisfaction.” In these three songs we see Stone’s personality growing out of the moral gospel voice of his first record and this time around owning the high ground with a focus on vocal performance and strong arrangements. Last To Speak, his first effort from a few years back showed his youth in a heavy lyrical hand with overt moral/political themes of class-concious music. Coming from a nerdy white kid, it’s not entirely compelling stuff. In Allen Stone however the title character has made strides in trying to figure out how sing the philosophy of better living through loving by preaching less and singing more, and despite his youth is sounding more convincing because of it. Most of the time.

Stone’s progression is best revealed via a comparison of the final tracks of his two records. “Last to Speak,” the title track of his debut record is an almost too-clever, self-deprecating. modern protest song. It’s also the culmination of a record that unfortunately felt like a young man with too little experience telling the rest of us how to live. The final song on the new record on the other hand is the frighteningly prescient “Unaware” which takes the protest song to an emotional and personal level, framing life’s struggles and our current divisions in terms of human-to-human disrespect. Here he hasn’t lost his moral stance, he’s channeling it into the personal frustration we all feel while being lied to our faces, and in singing is living the pain. Here in just a few words he’s expressing America’s current zeitgeist better than any other artist has done this year. “You say that you care, I was unaware.”

Allen Stone is a reverent and mostly upbeat tour of the love song with Stevie Wonder, Al Green and Raphael Saadiq all on the mind. But for my money Stone himself is at his best when he’s revealing the range of his own ebullient personality and energy as he does in the effusive dance numbers “Sleep” and “Say So” and hyperactive-heartbreak funk jam “Satisfaction.” As I’m leaving a description of “Say So” until near the end, I guess that means it must be my unconscious choice for that capstone moment and not living-room-video hit “Unaware.” Conspicuously Motown, “Say So” is a partner-grabbing pop gem. Catchy from every angle, it comes closest to recreating the fervently funky “One Love” energy that Stone presents in front of a live crowd, something that doesn’t quite come out on Last to Speak. Stone is a kinetic performer, and this song bursts with movement.

With a more developed voice at his disposal and a supporting cast made from Raphael Saadiq’s band amongst other heavy hitters this second time around, Allen Stone still shows his youth at times. In the year of Charles Bradley I could’ve done without the bit of fronting on “What I’ve Seen.” That Stone could pen such a conceptually strong song speaks volumes about his studious approach to the form. But it also feels like he probably should’ve saved those lyrics for 20 years down the road when he’d been through things to inspire such a song, experiences that would imbue his delivery with some real visceral edge that we might believe.

“I’m sick and tired of soul music looking so clean and proper! Cause my soul… my soul… my soul is just a little big greasy!” This is how Allen Stone introduces himself to the crowd from the stage right now. Obviously steeped in tradition but not married to its dictates, Stone’s four-eyed soul is unrepentant in both its influences and its willingness to disregard them entirely. Repping the Northwest he’s more than likely on stage in a flannel or Sonics jersey instead of any Detroit mandated button-up uniform like most of his current peers. This un-buttoned attitude extends to the dynamic mixture of straight R&B ballads and kinetic pop and funk on display in this record. If nothing else, just like the live show, Allen Stone represents Stone being unapologetically himself.

Allen Stone self-releases Allen Stone tomorrow October 4th. Stream it on his facebook today. Find it on iTunes tomorrow. See him in Bellingham at the Wild Buffalo on Friday October 7th or Thursday October 20th in Seattle at the Triple Door.