Reviewed by Phil Thomson

What a roller-coaster! I thought for one tiny moment I was going to be sweetly numb with the best kind of boredom these rhythms can offer - then the ideas, lyrics, musical invention just started coming at me from all angles. Electrifying. Here is an album that will force you to tap everything else as well as your toes. I hate to overstate the notion of "groove", but Osmond Collins does it so well he single-handedly rescues the genre. There's warmth, cheek and an overwhelming sense of presence in the voice - and the delivery is nano-second perfect. It is all summed up in "Picture this, me and Jesus walking through Heaven's gates/Picture this, God the Father greets me with a smiling face" ("Picture This"). Every track has attitude, every song, memorable. "Glory, Written, Calvary" is such a soaring, rangy journey of assurance, with the smoky voice weaving through those insistent still-beats with so much brassy assurance it will make you hit the repeat button right away. I guarantee it. Then songs like "I Feel Better" will nudge you into singing with the choir echo in spite of yourself. What Collins manages to do is make you forget the gentle tyranny of the rhythm, the relentless, stressed-out uniformity which marks out the best of reggae, punctuated by the silences, the high hats and brushes. All those spaces, whispering steel drum textures with never a steel drum in sight, vaguely dissonant organ wafting through the breathing breaks. It's a complete wind-up, a celebration, an amazing testament to the music. "It Takes Two"' typically balances Collin's silky blue voice with the endless, surprising dexterity of triangle, saxophone, whimpering na-nan-na harmonies and a million tinkling moments to feed your hunger. Mesmeric. One of the most outstanding UK releases in years.

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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