This review is 3 months late, but then again, the album itself is 25 years late. Ok, kinda.
You might remember Colin Vearncombe. He was the main man in Black, which had a 80s hit with ‘Sweetest Smile’ and more importantly ‘Wonderful Life’, which via tv ads for everything from chocolate to insurance has re-emerged to a whole new audience several times since.
This album actually starts with The Hits – ‘Wonderful Life’ is still the smoothest of the electropop torch songs, and even given its fake marimba sound is as good as ever, a genuinely timeless release. ‘Sweetest Smile’ hasn’t aged either, even more downbeat than its chart predecessor with Vearncombe’s voice mellow yet exuding emotion.
Perhaps surprisingly, it gets more downbeat from there on. Both voice and music have the feel and sound of Jacques Brel and it seems that as a balladeer Black have/has really been overlooked. ‘Swingtime’ is poppier but has the feel of Scott Walker – there’s a thread running through this. In all, while I have no idea what Colin V has been doing all these years, this rather proves even if he is a two-hit wonder, there’s much more to this classic songwriter.
