Candi Staton produced some wonderful Soul in the 70's, without ever really hitting the heights reached by some of her contemporaries. Since then she has stayed close to her Gospel roots, only returning to the secular when releasing "His Hands" in 2006. This is her follow up.
In some senses, this is a well trodden path. Soul greats like Solomon Burke and Al Green have returned to form in recent years using current producers to evoke their prime, and here Candi Staton does the same. The track listing is unlikely to contain too many songs you will have heard before - they have been gathered from far and wide, mostly from obscure sources - but they have all been given the Southern Soul treatment by Candi's plaintive delivery.
Stand out tracks are Mercy Now, which reminds me of "In The Ghetto", "I Don't Want Anything", which has a beautiful melody, the funky "title track and the opener "Breaking Down Slow" which was co written by the great Dan Penn. But although everyone picks favourites, this is a truly superb album that proves that Soul might have gone out of fashion for a while but it never really went away.
Candi Staton will never get the push given to the likes of Amy Winehouse and Duffy, but with this album she shows the young pretenders how it's done. If you have heard and liked the current crop of neo-Soul singers, then get this album and immerse yourself in some real Soul from one of the originators. Recommended for lovers of Soul music.