James Hunter Six

Nick Of Time

Gawd bless James Hunter, the aitchdropping, chain-smoking British geezer who has, inexplicably, the most glorious soul voice of his generation; you suspect he could croon a Centrelink on-hold message and leave you shivering. And his Daptone output is getting stronger. These blues and soul originals salute the golden age – right down to the sleeve art – but spiced with snarky nods to here and now, they never stink of pastiche.

Leaving the blocks at a lollop with I Can Change Your Mind, the album’s pace is perhaps a little more stately than its 2018 predecessor ‘Whatever It Takes’. Who’s Fooling Who is a snarebrushed stunner that chronicles a relationship’s death rattle. The leisurely Missing In Action evokes the sun-kissed morning stroll back from a lover’s house, not the sweat, hair and hands of the night before.

Hunter rouses himself for the skittering Ain’t Goin’ Up In One Of Those Things, but he needn’t have worried; it’s a pleasure just to amble alongside him, being blissfully glazed in honey by that extraordinary voice.