Album Review

Mick Hucknall wants it both ways. Side one of Simply Red's second album begins with him earnestly singing that he wants to do "The Right Thing"; side two opens with a credible cover of Sly Stone's naked, scathing "Let Me Have It All." By and large, he succeeds on both counts.

Men and Women is committed and ambitious, a sweet soul cocktail with a tangy kick. It's brainier and brawnier than its predecessor, Picture Book: Hucknall's songwriting is more topical and concise, the band's playing and arrangements sound more muscular and assured. Simply Red seeks to combine the sleek, electronic allure of modern pop with some of the emotional sass and fire of traditional R&B. And more often than not, it does it without straining.

Young Red may be the first English soul man to move beyond mere skilled mimicry into a confident, comfortable groove of his own, neither overreaching his talent (like Paul Young) nor coasting on it (like Boy George). His gruff, casual delivery is idiosyncratic but never mannered; he can lighten the intensity of Bunny Wailer's roots-reggae showpiece "Love Fire" without dousing the flame; and he can croon Cole Porter's "Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye" without turning campy and condescending.

Manchester (Simply Red's home town) and Detroit (its spiritual home) both receive their due here, too. On his collaborations with Lamont Dozier – the punchy "Infidelity" and the slowburning "Suffer" – Hucknall does the veteran Motown writer proud, deepening his voice and shaking the timbers of these sturdy songs. The LP's last two songs lapse into cliché, but originals like "I Won't Feel Bad" and especially "Move On Out" connect plush funk riffs with witty, direct lyrics. The latter number is stunning; it surveys a young man's diminished expectations in a manner similar to Bruce Hornsby's "The Way It Is" and recalls the elegantly updated soul of the Womack clan.

Ironic, isn't it? Classic American LPs like Womack and Womack's Love Wars and Bobby Womack's The Poet gather dust in remainder bins while a young British group revives their sound and takes it to the top of the charts. But that's something of a tradition, after all, and it couldn't be in better hands than Simply Red's. (RS 497)

MARK COLEMAN

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