Reviewed by Stephen Luff

Nick Battle has a career working alongside a list of who's who that is simply outstanding, name-dropping Simon Cowell, Michael Ball and the Spice Girls amongst others. In addition, he was a member of After The Fire in the late '70s and has produced/written for Cliff Richard, The Alarm, Colin Blunstone and Natasha Bedingfield to name just a few. With this sort of background, you would expect an album of quality-crafted songs and top-drawer vocals, and Mr Battle delivers! 'King Of My Heart' follows the 2007 release 'Let Go And Let God' and includes vocals from the likes of Andy Piercy (sounding a bit like Chris Rea!), Chris Eaton, David & Carrie Grant, Nick's daughter Jodie, and Nick himself. Due in part to production by Kipper (who has worked with Sting), there is more than a little post-Police influence here. Three such examples are "Shine", an outstanding start with a great bass line, co-written by Nick and Kipper, "Everything", an emotional song written after his first wife's funeral, displaying vocals from Nick's daughter Jodie defying her teenage years, and "Smile", sung by Nick himself. Other tracks to note are "I Am Loved" (also featured on the Michael Ball album 'Music'), and "Sing", a ballad that was co-written with Gary Barlow (Take That). This is a superb album, displaying all the ingredients needed in full measure, first class songwriting, vocals and production.

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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