Albums

Jon Scott - I Breathe 4 U

Owain Paciuszko 12/05/2009

Rating: 3/5

Sometimes you get sent a CD that's not exactly to your tastes, and you wonder if any negative feelings you have towards it are the result of either (a) it actually not being too good or (b) just a personal distaste for the type of music. This is one such CD, though my feelings for it aren't entirely negative, it's just a bit 'meh'.

Title track I Breathe 4 U is a pop song in the early 90s mold, it's got good slinky instrumentation and Scott's vocal itself is soulful and polished; there's a flavour of Prince and Santana and the song itself is a strong pop record, but, whilst it's not embarassing or awful, it just doesn't quite make any impact upon me. It's less offensive than the incessant string of Arctic Monkeys clones that occasionally come my way, but it's not something I imagine I would ever come back to.

Flow Like a River (Free Your Soul) sounds somewhere between the theme music to an early morning lifestyle show and one of Finley Quaye's blander moments, it's another decent song, though it feels like a hangover from the early 90s charts when UB40's roamed wild and free and Jimmy Somerville could appear on a Now compilation. Give Me A Call throws in a ska-like beat and some quirkier percussive sound and is a nice, summery, carefree record that could become something of a guilty pleasure, especially with lyrics like 'Later if you want a frappucino..?' It's a slight, silly and fun number. Whilst final track S 2 G (Stand Together) is the most retro sounding one here, and falls under the 'Unite and change the world' musical category that Michael Jackson owned the franchise rights for.

Fans of proper old-school pop with a romantic edge may lap this up, Scott's clearly extremely talented with a great pop voice and a knack for composition, though there's not enough here to really grab my attention.