The Other Side

A purveyor of classic sweet soul of the old school, Hall looked set to follow in the footsteps of Seal as the saviour of UK Soul following the release of his debut Medicine 4 My Pain. A heap of awards including a MOBO and a Brit nomination did him no harm at all. He has yet to make the breakthrough, but this enjoyable follow-up in which Hall pretty well plays everything could be the one to do it.

Even more ambitious in scope than its predecessor, The Other Side recalls Prince in his heyday with nods towards Sly Stone, Al Green and Marvin Gaye. The songs embrace a range of soul and R&B styles including gospel flavours on 'Where's God?', blues forms on 'To Be A Man' and shimmering funk on the current single 'Sleeping With Victor', a quirky offbeat number with an infectious chorus. He displays a slightly harder edge on 'Forgive Me', the first single to be taken from the album but it's his mellow, slow burning side as featured on the acoustic 'Don't Wanna Talk' which is his most attractive quality.