The closest thing to a British Marvin Gaye
Roland Gift's last album as frontman of the much-lamented Fine Young Cannibals sold millions in 1989; this is his first record since. These two facts underscore every note of his debut album as a solo artist. Understandably, it follows the blueprint of that 1989 masterpiece, The Raw and the Cooked: crisp pop-soul built around Gift's still-remarkable shudder of a voice. But the lyrics and titles (for instance, Looking for a Friend and Tell Me You Want Me Back) reveal the mental struggles Gift has gone through since abandoning pop for a bright but brief career in film. Subconsciously or not, his words are those of someone who doesn't want to live off his past, but needs reassurance that his public want him. Perhaps inevitably, this oft-delayed comeback lacks distinctive songs and is too similarly paced to truly test Gift's vocal capabilities. But when it works, as on the punchy A Girl Like You and the moving Say It Ain't So, Gift's vocals flow from the grooves like nectar - he is the closest thing to a British Marvin Gaye we have produced. Even when he's this uneven, it is good to have him back. (DS)