For years I’ve been hoping for a Lovers Rock revival. I’d hoped the compilations from Soul Jazz Records and tracks from Lord Echo would help fuel a full on resurgence. But sadly, other than a few tracks coming out of Japan, I hadn’t heard much. Part of the problem I think is that in a post Pop Idol and The Voice world, artists are more keen to show off their vocal range than bring any real emotion to their songs.
Lovers Rock, or at least the British, mainly female led version of it, is one of the most important (and underrated) music movements this country had to offer. A late 70s invention that brought a strident female voice into focus, in the same way Southern Soul did a the beginning of the decade. It was no surprise to find so many vocalists moving to soul, like Caron Wheeler and Juliet Roberts, and the effect it had on vocal style there. A definite ’Britishness’. Though I didn’t appreciate fully at the time, I can’t remember not knowing Janet Kay’s Silly Games.
But I hadn’t heard of Hollie Cook! With the latest album she seems to have hit her stride, bringing modern elements that lift this from being just an exercise in replicating what’s come before. Move My Way is a perfect example of that, lovely Soul tinged reggae. This album is currently on heavy rotate in the house!