Held back until it was long past being ready to drop, MJ Cole's debut long player has seemed on the brink of release for over a year. Now it appears with perfect timing to make the Mercury Music Prize nominations, which of course, it does.
The shining jewel in the crown of Talkin Loud's 10th Birthday celebrations, Matt Cole is the underground garage rude bwoy turned soul jazz apostle. And that's the story of this album, really. 'Sincere' attempts to straddle a spectrum from the ruffneck styling of 'Attitude' through the downbeat strings of 'Strung Out' and on to the soulful cover of 'Rough Out Here'. Those expecting Cole to release the definitive 'Garage' album will be disappointed, he's simply stretched the genre too far in all directions for 'Sincere' to qualify.
He's certainly released a diverse and accomplished album which will court favour far beyond the railway arches that pass for nightclubs down in South London. But you can't help thinking that in courting the Mercury judges he's left the field wide open for other underground talents to step in. Possibly ones that have been watching the scene more closely and evolving a sound rooted in the current deep-tech production style that's taking the music to its next level.
Cole, of course, didn't want to make that album and, in parts, has done himself proud with accomplished tracks like 'Crazy Love', the beautiful 'I See' and even the 'Sincere' re-tread of 'Sanctuary'. But nothing on the album takes the digital delights of the title-track, first released back in '98, further into garage's natural progression. 'Natural' because, after all, this is an intensely electronic music whose greatest sources of pleasure come from the manipulation of human voices and sythesised instruments, alongside physically impossible drum patterns.
'Sincere' is very possibly to 2 Step what Reprazent's 'New Forms' was to drum and bass, so now who's going to release the scene's equivalent of Boymerang's 'Balance Of Force'?
