Strong

ANDREW STRONG "Strong" (MCA)

"THE VOICE of the Commitments", says the sticker on the cover of Andrew Strong's unadventurously titled debut. And this pretty much sums up what to expect on the first solo outing from Ireland's very own gravel-voiced Soul Man.

Any hopes that he might have attempted to distance himself from his movie persona and tried to forge a distinctive role for his undeniable talents are dashed on a first listen to Strong. All the standard soul ingredients are here: a stabbing horn section, call and response backing vocals and the now familiar gritty, sand-and-glue vocals from a still astonishingly young Strong.

When you think about it, he probably had little choice. Signed to MCA on the strength of his remarkable vocal contribution to the Commitments soundtrack and his subsequent high profile, he had no proven songwriting talents, no band, and the added marketing problem of how to sell a teenager who sings like a soul veteran. The obvious thing would be to pack him off to the States, link him up with a name producer, some session heavy-weights and let him loose with a stew of soul and R `n' B standards. And that's more or less what has happened.

To his credit, Strong has resisted the temptation to cover very well-known material, choosing instead some fairly obscure soul hits, like Bobby Bland's 'Ain't Nothin' You Can Do' (which strangely gets two airings here) and 'Some Kind Of Wonderful' - not the Carol King penned Drifters hit of the same name but a song by the long forgotten Soul Brothers Six. AC/DC's 'Girl's Got Rhythm' is a surprise choice given its pedigree but an average enough song for that and 'Too Many Cooks' has some nice swampy guitar playing.

'Same Old Me' recalls Rod Stewart at his mid-seventies peak and may point the way forward for Strong, blending his soul leaning with a rock sensibility. Like all great singers he sounds better when he's holding back something and the restraint shown on this countryish ballad works well, likewise with 'This Bitter Earth', another ballad with more acoustic backing and a melody like Gary Moore's 'Still Got The Blues'. Produced by Danny Kortchmar, one time sidekick of James Taylor and Jackson Browne, the overall mix is a little claustrophobic with smothering arrangements on some cuts. Curtis Stigers guests on sax on a couple of tracks. It's perhaps a shame Strong didn't go the whole hog and grab Booker T and The MG's before Neil Young did! At least he'd be in the company of musicians who actually defined the style he so obviously loves instead of those merely endeavouring to recreate it. Still, with time on his side, there's enough on offer here to be hopeful for his future. It is after all, a debut album and not a bad one at that.

• Colm O'Hare