Over mellow bluesy-pop grooves, the slightly husky voice of Gregory Hoskins sounds like the missing link between Maroon Five's Adam Levine and Paul Simon.
This singer has 8 previous albums to his name although this is his first as part of a duo. He and fellow Canadian Gary Craig have worked together since 1996 but have always previously been part of a full band.
All the words and music are by Hoskins who also plays guitar and, for one track, Mama's Boy, trumpet. Craig's role is confined to percussion but he also assists with arrangements and co-produces the record.
The backing vocals on several tunes are noteworthy in that they comprise a 30-voice crowd-sourced 'Beggar's Virtual Choir' made up of fans who individually recorded and uploaded MP3s then submitted them by e-mail.
The album contains nine new songs and two re-recordings of older tunes - It's Always Something from 2005's The King Of Good Intentions and Surgery, from the 1999 album of the same name.
The sentiment on the latter to the effect that love is the only true agent of change could be taken as the dominant theme of a record where notions of love triumphing over fear create a mood of cautious optimism.
The lyrics also imply we could all benefit from some kind of spiritual guidance although thankfully fall short of religious propaganda. For instance, there's something biblical in the idea that "there are some roads that we travel by which we don't return" in the opening track (Providence Line) while the yearning tone on Sweet Redemption and the belief that "If you're gonna fall in love, you better pray to God above" in To Be Open also suggest a prayerful subtext.
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You might expect Porn Stars to be raunchier but, even here, the words, which features the album title, speak of the difficulty keeping faith in plans and include images like that of "a basement where dreams go to die".
However, the explicitly carnal pleasures imagined in Feel Like A King illustrate that Hoskins is red-blooded enough to have no fear for the 'sins' of the flesh.
Overall, the emphasis on elegant restraint makes for a perfectly pleasant adult orientated pop album but it lacks the hooks or thrills that might have made it more distinctive.
Gregory Hoskins' website
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