Paul Carrack "Good Feeling"

Absolute 2012

How long has this been going on ….?

• Paul Carrack is a voice for hire and has been used by some of the greats – BB King, Roxy Music, Squeeze and others such as Mike and the Mechanics to name but a few. He is without doubt a very good singer with a powerful voice that translates the soul idiom very well but inevitably still sounds quintessentially English.

• This is described as ‘a triumphant new album of 12 soul-inspired songs’ and that is exactly what it is. If this reviewer turned on BBC Radio 2 and heard any of the tracks on this album he would be neither surprised or disappointed, neither would he be inspired or angered nor would he be disgusted or sexually aroused.

  This album is beautifully produced; everything is in the right place, vocals are beautifully harmonised and instruments are just the right place in the mix. This is Curtis Stigers or Micheal Buble – smooth, effortless and perhaps anodyne. Each track is perfect muzak for anything – shopping, eating, walking or w**king - it doesn't matter, just like the music, it is a soundtrack. ‘If I Should Fall Behind’ stands out marginally as the vocal and the coda lift it above the morass of the rest of the album. On the other side of the coin‘From Now On’ uses the lyric ‘into each life some rain must fall’ seriously – please!! I’m not sure who buys this stuff but it should sell shedloads, to the advertising industry alone!