Mick Hucknall has a superb voice. Take that as read. OK, so his songwriting may have gone awry more than a few times over the last 18 years but he's always penned at least one pop classic per album - 'Holding Back The Years', 'The Right Thing', 'A New Flame', 'Fairground', the list goes on.
But it's Hucknall's inspired choice of cover versions which has more than helped his career along. Reworkings not in the UB40-do-karaoke sense but unique interpretations which make each song his own - 'Money's Too Tight To Mention' (Valentine Brothers), 'If You Don't Know Me By Now' (Harold Melvin), 'Heaven' (Talking Heads) 'Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye' (Cole Porter) and 'Angel' (Aretha) to name but a few.
This tradition has been turned on its head with Simply Red's eighth studio opus. The three and a half covers on 'Home' (the first album released on Hucknall's own label) prove unimaginative, uninspired and ultimately pointless. Recent single 'Sunrise' relies heavily on a sample of Hall & Oates' 'I Can't Go For That (No Can Do)'. It's catchy enough but De La Soul did it with far more soul, urgency and innovation on 1989's 'Say No Go'.
A version of The Stylistics 'You Make Me Feel Brand New' also fails to excite. Hucknall's voice is not at fault here. It's the tired arrangement. Halfway through you're looking at your watch. However, the less said about Dylan's 'Positively 4th Street' the better, although Mick does a passable impression of Bob's nasal drawl. On the plus side, a housey version of Dennis Brown's 'Money In My Pocket' brings a fresh slant to the reggae classic.
Most of Hucknall's own efforts meanwhile yield more successful results. 'Home' is a warm, assured slice of string-drenched soul; the upbeat 'Fake' bristles with punchy Stax-style brass; 'It's You' is a gentle Philly-ish ballad and 'Lost Weekend' offers laid-back sunshiny soul with funky licks and jazzy keys.
'Something For You' fails to convince as it flits from Santana-like rock through stomping soul to a jazzy lope. Elsewhere the upbeat urgency and powerful vocal of 'Home Loan Blues' are undone by a lack of chorus and a lyrical attempt to update 'Money's Too Tight...' - "You can have it all but you've got to pay, credit cards, mortgage, home loans for your holiday". These no doubt well-intentioned words are hard to take from a man who flits between homes in Surrey, Paris and Milan.
Not the finest of offerings from Hucknall then, but there's plenty here to remind us of why we loved the man and his voice in the first place.
