Reviewed by James Attlee

In which South Africa's slickest soul export, the Townships' favourite son, retraces his steps and brings his sights to bear on his homeland. This is an epic production by Loris Holland, a producer with roots in black gospel but with a Quincey Jones-like wide-screen 1990's sound. The dominant South African theme does not make for roots music, the musicians credit list reads like a who's who of US session superstars - Marcus Miller, Omar Hakim, Don Alias, Will Downing on backing vocals, you get the picture. But Loris Holland and Butler himself have managed to use African colourings more successfully than on any of Butler's previous work. The title track is a gospel-tinged plea for peace in South Africa complete with Zulu narration and Butler's guitar leaving George Benson territory and firing off some township jazz-inspired licks. "All Growed Up", another song based on the land of inequal opportunity, has Holland flexing his gospel muscle and bringing a choir in the studio. The subject matter of "Black and White In Colour," side two's opener, is self-explanatory. It's an uptempo state-of-the-dance work out that allows the Cape Town-born London-based singer to demonstrate he's the equal of any Transatlantic mainstream soul performer. Not all the tracks are based on the South African theme. The album features a number of love songs, of which the up tempo numbers like "Good Life" work the best. When Butler switches to ballad mode he moves too far into MOR territory for this reviewer, despite the excellence of his voice and the production, and with "Scene Of The Crime" and "No Strings, No Ties" he moves lyrically nearer the suburban adultery scenarios of "More Than Friends" but the sleaze factor never reaches previous heights. Butler's stated aim is to develop the area of 'message music', and eventually gospel, and this album is a massive step forward for a uniquely gifted performer who appears to have finally found his voice. If you love big production soul music, with excellent vocal and musical performance you'll love this.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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