Simply Red

Stay finds Mick Hucknall's breathy, expressive tenor aging gracefully, with just enough soulful inflection to thicken up his typically effervescent brew of lite jazz and easygoing pop. If the pitter-pat of programmed rhythm tracks on "So Not Over You" and "Lady" remind us of just how lasting Hucknall's influence has been on next-generation popsters like David Gray and James Morrison, the soul strutters like "Oh! What A Girl!" and "The Death of the Cool" prove that he could still wipe the floor with his imitators. The LP ends on a lovely note with the string-rich "Little Englander."