Album of the day: Simply Red, “Home”

Simply Red, “Home” (Cd Simplyred/WEA 5055131700041)

Favorites of the European public (particularly Anglo-Saxon) thanks to their clever mix of soul, r&b and pop, Simply Red have rapidly changed their physiognomy over the years, losing pieces until becoming a nom de plume for the only original member of the formation, the singer Mick Hucknall (moreover strongly identified by the public as the authentic leader since the first album, “Picture Book”).

Mick’s voice, full of pathos and with an unmistakable timbre, is the most personal thing about this 2003 album, which unlike his first works is mainly made up of original compositions, even if there is no shortage of excellent covers of “You Make Me Feel Brand New” (a Stylistics classic) and the poisonous “Positively 4th Street” by Bob Dylan, taken from “Blonde on Blonde” and perhaps addressed by Mick to his former bandmates.

The single “Sunrise”, however, is a sort of musical Frankenstein that grafts a new melody onto the sampling of the original base of “I Can’t Go for That (No Can Do)” by Daryl Hall & John Oates, Hucknall’s American forerunners in the Blue-Eyed Soul genre. Typically these operations of stylistic superposition are terrifying, but this time the result is very pleasant, carried out with admirable good taste, and produces a song that is impossible to put out of your head (in fact it shot up like a rocket to the top of the world charts).

Hucknall’s pen is always effective when he pays homage to the Philly Sound in “Fake” (another song perfect for dancing) or to the orchestral Soul of Thom Bell and Barry White in “Lost Weekend”. The arrangements are, as always, very detailed (after all, they are performed by the cream of English sessionmen, with appearances by American veterans such as Joe Sample, Lenny Castro, Bernie Worrell, Larry Williams and Freddie Washington) and allow you to go wild dancing or simply be listened to in relaxation, like the sweet ballad “Home” or the classic “tile” “It’s You”, which seems to look in the direction of Smokey Robinson & the Miracles.

A record like this certainly doesn’t change the musical world, but given that we are in the middle of autumn and the gloomy weather induces a certain bad mood, listening to “Home” can perhaps liven up your day with its snappy rhythms colored by excellent interventions of wind instruments, choirs and keyboards with a sound rich in warmth.

Carlo Boccadoro, composer and conductor, was born in Macerata in 1963. He lives and works in Milan. He collaborates with soloists and orchestras in different parts of the world. He is the author of numerous books on musical topics.

This text is taken from “Lunario della musica: A record for every day of the year” published by Einaudi, courtesy of the author and the publisher.