You know how some artists just frustrate the crap out of you? Or confuse the crap out of you? Marc Broussard’s one of those guys.

Seven years ago, his debut major-label album, Carencro (also the name of his Louisiana hometown), landed on my desk. While there was no doubt that the man could sing, it seemed like his record company couldn’t decide if they wanted to make him the next D’Angelo or the next John Mayer, so he became some bizarre hybrid of the two-and for every musical high point of the album, there was a song that made me wonder “what the hell are they trying to do here?” The video for “Home” got some love on VH-1. Not to super-editorialize, but I pretty much consider myself an Agnostic now. Back when this song was popular, I wasn’t, and listening to this song (particularly the halfway mark and after) will put some kind of spirit in you, if you have any kind of soul or a pulse. In my ideal world, this song would’ve been a ginormous hit.

Marc’s obviously very, very talented. He’s got a voice that puts just about every other current blue-eyed soulster to shame. Robin Thicke or Justin Timberlake probably couldn’t handle a straight-up blues song. Hell, most current black R&B singers wouldn’t be able to. Marc can do neo-soul, he can do the Otis Redding thing, he can do country, he can do blues. The issue certainly isn’t the voice, it’s the material. The voice is why I’ve bought everything he’s put out since Carencro. The material is why, aside from an interesting album of 60s and 70s soul covers and a live benefit EP for Hurricane Katrina victims, I’ve sold back everything of his I’ve bought. Sorry to say.

I tried following Marc on Twitter for a while (@MarcBroussard), but some of his political musings turned me off enough that I un-followed him. I’ve decided to give the guy another chance via social networking, and found out that he has an EP being released digitally today. You can listen to it over on his Facebook page, and/or you can check out the live version of the song “Lucky” posted below. Looks like there’ll be a full-length album being released this summer, as well. Like I said, you can’t deny this guy’s skills. I’m just hoping that this time, the material is consistent throughout.