Artist: Simply Red
Label: Verve Forecast
Released: 2005
Rating: 3.5/5
“Simplified” isn’t really a proper Simply Red album, not one you could file under “studio album” in the band’s existing discography. It’s actually a selection, a compilation of old songs and hits, to which Hucknall added four new tracks (one of them written by Leon Russel). The old material has been stripped down and now comes in fully acoustic versions. Mick Hucknall is known as a “chameleon” over the years of his career, and the songs he’s written over all that time swing between pop, soul, reggae and R&B.
Inspired by a trip to Cuba and by Simply Red playing there last year (Simpy Red are the first British pop band ever to perform on Cuban soil), a few of the new arrangements flirt passionately with Latin rhythms and Latin melody. Mick Hucknall, the undisputed leader of Simply Red, once again planned the whole thing very carefully, under the familiar magnifying glass of his own musical perfectionism, and invited proven names to play on the record, people who simply can’t and won’t disappoint with their top-quality contributions.
The opener is the brand-new Perfect Love, with a wound-up Latin groove that instantly lifts the album’s dynamics, and “Simplified” bounces to life with real temperament! Simply Red classics Something Got Me Started, Sad Old Red, Smile and Ev’ry Time We Say Goodbye surrender to the new arrangements with unbelievable ease, and in their new outfits they even pick up a light breeze of “jazzy” flavor! Holding Back The Years, one of the band’s most popular hits, stays gorgeous and still movingly recognizable after the masquerade the original went through. That emotional pull has actually been upgraded. It simply has all the maturity that comes with the years, breathed in by nobody but Mick Hucknall’s touch. Fairground carries one of the strongest reworked ballad arrangements, where Hucknall’s soul approach, deftly armed with passionate female vocals, really shines. The renditions of For Your Babies and A Song For You are no slouches either, and Hucknall touches perfection with sensual immersion, which is especially convincing and sincere in Simply Red’s hands through the reworked arrangements of both songs, which express the longing for the perfect love of a woman that their author dreams about.
Hucknall, who ranks among the finest soul singers Great Britain has ever produced, shines once again with his exceptional feel. The sophistication of the restructured arrangements is an attribute that shocks, and in that shock it wins you over with ease. The orchestral and acoustic arrangements only reinforce the singer’s basic “soul feel”. The effect is that the gentler and softer the musicians approach the arrangements, the stronger and more convincing the performance of the song becomes, and of course you couldn’t imagine any of this without the vocals of the emotionally invested Mick Hucknall. The classic orchestral arrangements, for example, majestically “deflower” Smile, which gets real wings with the added strings, wings that even Frank Sinatra himself wouldn’t be ashamed of. Hucknall, whether he means to or not, walks in old good Frankie’s footsteps in Smile. Sad Old Red has that “walking jazz blues” touch that makes the thirties unspool before your eyes, and the piano and the horns in the leading roles are to blame for that.
Simply Red have that exceptional greatness and uniqueness that separates the average acts on one side from the top-tier ones on the other. “Simplified” proves once again that with their outstanding sense of melody and perfect ear, Simply Red simply don’t let you down. For this CD to be perfect, a collection of songs that Simply Red made with lots of fun and pleasure, breathing into them that “own” something that makes them so special and recognizable, all it’s missing from the tracklist is So Beautiful, but otherwise the band’s new effort is once again a lottery jackpot. After all, plenty of artists record old hits in reworked arrangements, and simply crash and burn doing it. “Simplified” is the exact opposite, and really an upgrade of the sensuality that Hucknall’s soul vocals possess. This is an album for everyone who’s sick of listening to the original hits on endless repeat, the ones Simply Red made millions from, an album for all the band’s loyal fans and definitely for everyone else who likes to lie down for an afternoon rest after a big lunch and needs a first-class ear massage, or therapy, to help you digest your meal. From all that, it’s not hard to conclude that this is yet another new Simply Red product aimed at the masses. This time with even more emphasized sensuality and depth of maturity. Simple and true!
Lineup
Mick Hucknall – vocals
Sarah Brown – backing vocals
Anthea Clarke – backing vocals
Dee Johnson – backing vocals
Dave Clayton – keyboards
Simon Hale – keyboards
Andy Wright – keyboards
Danny Saxon – keyboards
Mark Jamies – guitar
Kenji Suzuki – guitar
Ian Kirkham – saxophone, keyboards
Kevin Robinson – trumpet
John Johnson – trombone
Chris De Margary – flute, saxophone
Steve Lewinson – bass guitar
Gota Yashiki – bass guitar, drums
Pete Lewinson – drums
Geoff Holroyde – drums
Production
Andy Wright, Mark Jaimes & Danny Saxon
Tracklist
1. Perfect Love
2. Something Got Me Started
3. Holding Back The Years
4. More
5. A Song For You
6. Your Mirror
7. Fairground
8. My Perfect Love
9. Smile
10. Sad Old Red
11. For Your Babies
12. Ev’ry Time We Say Goodbye
Running time: 49:14
