Apparently and regrettably it takes more than just actual ability to keep my attentions. I’m someone who’s always made the case that if someone is (anywhere) doing their thing and doing it on such a level that it is clearly and demonstratively very well done, that it would be enough to make a fan out of me, but that isn’t exactly the total truth to be perfectly honest. There exists a class of artists who, although even by my own admission, they’ve shown themselves to be talented (and well talented in some cases) and may still be doing just that, there just exists a bridge which, for some reason, I find myself either completely incapable or completely unwilling to cross when it comes to enjoying or even potentially enjoying their music. Now, I might not necessarily HATE or even dislike their music and, generally when you’re dealing with undeniable talents who happen to operate in your field of interests, it’s kind of hard to do either, but these are artists who, at least for the most part, tend to elicit a nonchalant or even wholly apathetic response from me. Want an example? Read just about anyone of these reviews and I’m sure I’ve in some way, shape or form managed to mention how much I find myself disliking Vybz Kartel and, for the sake of not having to do it again, I’ll only go further to mention that despite how irritating I may find him these days, I’d be either foolish or completely dishonest to cast him as a talented artist. Another (and far less worn the fuck out) example would be if I were to say someone like Macka Diamond. Since Macka re-emerged on the scene a few years back, she has received so much attention and scored hits at almost every turn (even in Soca), but hers is not a talent which I tend to find myself reacting to in almost any way, save for a few tunes here and there. There’s also someone like Determine who almost rings through like Kartel (with whom he hilarious once feuded over the origins of the catchphrase ‘up to di time’) in that I once had a great appreciation for his music, earlier in his career, but at least to my opinion his relatively recent work hasn’t lived up to what he is capable of and I haven’t paid MUCH attention to him at all lately. Even more interesting (especially in this case now isn’t it) is the vocal group L.U.S.T. As a whole or separated, I (probably due to the fact that I am a heterosexual male) have never really liked their music, but a deaf man could probably testify to the fact that, as a whole or separated, vocally (and only vocally) (on the total package, none of them are what I would call outstanding) the group’s members are VERY GOOD. Between Lukie D, Thriller U, Singing Melody and Tony Curtis you have SERIOUSLY some of the best male vocalists in Reggae, but they never really seem to click with me as a unit or individually for some reason.
Of the four members of L.U.S.T., probably my favourite (for whatever it’s worth) is actually Tony Curtis. The world’s youngest veteran (who has been around from FOREVER) is generally quite solid whenever he brings something (most recently the solid ’Firetruck’ alongside Buju protégé New Kidz for Truckback) or whenever I check for something. STILL, the most talented in my opinion (which again, is saying a great deal), is probably Lukie D. And while I don’t find myself going out of my way to check for his material (or even listen to it when it’s literally thrown in my face usually), every once in awhile I’ll hear something from the singer which will be quite impressive and it’s not to the point where it is a SHOCKING situation also. Well coincidentally, the material I tend to favour more from Lukie D is when he works alongside a producer by the name of Frenchie, from out the UK. Frenchie used to be associated with his label, which was one of my favourite international imprints (and still is, should it still exist) of recent years having done quite a bit of damage, particularly with several nice riddims (and riddim albums), most notably the ‘World Jam’ [aka the World-A-Music] [aka the Welcome To Jamrock]. He’s also recorded an album with Jah Mason (2007’s solid Life Is Just A Journey) and, of course, with the artist with whom he is most often associated, Anthony B. The duo have recorded FOUR album together, most recently Rise Up from this year. Well, Frenchie and Maximum Sounds has also (obviously) been quite fond of Lukie D and in 2006, the two linked up to push what was, in my opinion, the best complete piece of work on an album for Lukie D in his entire career, Deliver Me. While I still maintain a fairly mundane and incredibly tempered view of Lukie D (and probably will into perpetuity), that one album, Delivery Me, although not PERFECT, was definitely the one that kind of forced my hand at REALLY overstanding and comprehending his talents and it has only gotten better to my opinion across the last few years since its release. So, now it’s 2009, three years after the release of Deliver Me and Frenchie and Lukie D have once again struck that link and are now ‘delivering’ Love Again. The circumstances have changed just a bit as APPARENTLY Frenchie now does his business at his new label Pull Up My Selector (and doesn’t Maximum Sound just ‘sound’ so much better) who handles the majority of the operations on Love Again. This album, while I’m not going to call it the finest of Lukie’s career (and thus better than Deliver Me) is still quite impressive and, lo and behold, I actually took the chance on it even before realizing that Frenchie was on board as a producer. Why? Well perhaps it was the fact that apparently Frenchie and I weren’t the only ones who had decided to take another look at Lukie D as a solo artist. Reggae major Greensleeves also took the leap as, after having a VERY strong working relationship with Frenchie (releasing three of said Anthony B albums and the World A Jam riddim album and some other stuff too), the now VP Records owned label decided to pick up distribution for Love Again as well. ALL of us couldn’t possibly be misguided and just all around fucking wrong. . . Could we?
NOPE. Again, while this album is by no means the most scintillatingly best album that I’ve ever heard in my entire life and nor is it the best album I’ve ever heard from the artist, what it is, is a rather surprisingly FULL reintroduction to just how PROFICIENT Lukie D can be when at or near his best, definitely one of the most talented male vocalists on the scene today in Reggae. Attempting to be AT or near his best is Lukie D on his new album Love Again which starts off VERY well, at the head with an intro which will tell you pretty much all you need to know about the singer vocally if you’ve never heard him. The intro here (just as it was on Deliver Me, in the form of the Jamaican National Anthem) is one of the best on the entire album as it finds Lukie D going all Sam Cooke on the people with a short version of the timeless classic ‘A Change Is Gonna Come’, which gets us going on a very lovely note. Next in is another of the more impressive tunes of Love Again, the title track which is also one of the non-Frenchie produced tracks as it flows in over Sly & Robbie’s relick of the ever-present Darker Shade of Black riddim. This tune received a bit of attention (as did pretty much everything on this VERY popular riddim) a couple of years back and I was interested as to why exactly the album was named after such a tune, but apparently said tune was more popular than even I’m giving it credit for being. Regardless of its damage on the masses, however, the kind of ‘hitchy’ sounding lovers piece sounds just as strong as ever here where it is definitely one of the main highlights. I THINK I might favour the next tune, however, between the two as the very colourful ‘Rescue Me’ has probably been my favourite Lukie D tune for the better part of a year or so and checks in over the strong Golden Gate riddim (which to me, going back to my R&B days, sounds like the backing of a Blackstreet tune by the name of ‘Don’t Leave Me’). Lastly in the opening block is the very strange ‘Hawaii Take Me Home’. This tune is probably destined to be slammed by pretty much everyone, but it isn’t HORRIBLE. It’s actually quite pleasant albeit very very corny and sappy as hell (talking about paradise and beaches as if he forgot where he was from). All in all, a very nice start to the album.
Love Again has a very clear leaning towards the old school with much of the vibes sprinkled throughout the album (perhaps making the title track even that more obvious, in retrospect). Apart from the intro and the title track, there’s also a very nice tune ‘How Long’ from a few years back which Reggae heads will almost instantly recognize I’m sure (and I think I just popped a vein in my head trying to think of the actual name of that one). There’s the old school vibed ‘How Will I Know’, which actually isn’t a very good tune, but the vibes and the vocals in general are very nice on that one also. Later on you also hear the obligatory (not quite obligatory here, however), herbalist anthem ‘One Cup A Day’ across Frenchie’s very clever take on an old an obscure riddim I know from an Ernest Wilson tune (’I Know Myself), the I Know My Herbs riddim. Again, the tune here isn’t very strong, but bits and pieces of it (like the CHORUS) are quite strong on their own merits. Still, my favourite such tune and my favourite tune on Love Again altogether is one of the few times Lukie D goes social on the people and he does so across an update of the ‘Party In Session’ riddim (the same one which backed the WICKED ‘Enter The Kingdom of Zion’ by Anthony B and Horace Andy from the Rise Up album) on the tune ‘Your Kingdom’s Falling’. From the standpoint of actually bringing SUBSTANCE and from the standpoint of being sonically pleasing to the senses, Your Kingdom’s Falling is nearly the total package and for me, it struck me on a different level: Because it isn’t such a huge deviation from what you’ll typically hear from Lukie D (not even on this album), I have to wonder why he doesn’t do such tunes more often (but then again, maybe he does and I’m just not paying attention), because this one is very impressive. Some of the other stuff although fairly new also sounds quite old school. Check ‘Save Me’ from Penthouse’s I Feel Good riddim [aka the Can’t Sleep riddim], which may have older origins itself and was a decent sized hit for the singer to my knowledge. There’s also the current player ‘No Air’ alongside unknown (to me) singer M’Lonie which is a nice Reggaefied mix-up of a mainstream hit of the same title featuring US singers Jordin Sparks and Chris Brown as well as former hit ‘Missing You‘ from Yogie. I don’t particularly like this song, but apparently it was doing enough damage to warrant its recent inclusion on The Biggest Reggae One-Drop Anthems 2009 album. ‘Young Love is also quite older vibed and it’s a pretty nice song as well (which is always nice, when you can both). I really don’t expect this tune to do much in the way of attracting attention AT ALL, but I’m definitely rating it as THE sleeper of Love Again as it doesn’t particularly standout in way and on any level, but it’s just a very well done track and the vibes there are nice. And then there’s ‘Just As I Am’ which features Lukie’s group mates of the aforementioned L.U.S.T. I kind of know this tune and it was a definitive hit for the group, but to speak further of how I kind of view them, I just NEVER made the connection there, almost as if I had no reason to, but if you’re a fan of Lukie D’s and/or LUST’s I’m sure the fact that it’s here will be a big deal for you and the tune itself (which I think is a remake of a next tune) isn’t bad either. The fucked up ending of Love Again has a fucked up interlude preceding it and neither are anything to write home about. The tune is pretty close to Euro-pop to my ears (and it also has what appears to be an electrified version of the same Ne-Yo tune backing it as the original version of Kartel’s and Spice’s hit Ramping Shop). The tune is actually BAD, catchy no doubt, but BAD and had Love Again just checked in at fourteen tunes instead of sixteen it would have been better in my opinion.
Overall, I hope I wasn’t TOO hard on Love Again. No it isn’t such a great album and it’s not going to be anywhere near ‘best of’ lists next month, but again, for how I view this artist, it’s actually very good in my opinion. It has a definitive direction with the old school tunes (no doubt thanks to Frenchie) and for his fans, I’m sure Lukie D will well impress. It has to be considered (at least in my novice opinion) one of his best complete projects to date also. And for me personally, while Lukie D may not have won me over and made a fan for life, pretty much anything Frenchie does, I’m going to be on board in some way, shape or form. Lukie D doesn’t work wonders for me and never has. But with Frenchie, Love Again is a lot more in tune to my tastes and maybe yours also and I’ll be looking forward to WHEN (not IF) they link up in the future also.
Rated 3.50/5
Pull Up Selector
2009
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