SHE may well have let her young heart run free, but Candi Staton’s now at a time when reflection and dejection are more relevant than youthful abandon.
Those days when her biggest hit crashed the disco rash of the mid-1970s have long gone, as have the flares, diamanté jump-suits and the glitter-ball. Staton is now a more mature chanteuse and this album resonates with a sleek assurance and gravitas to match her rich voice.
At times the album strays into the supper-club groove, easy on the ear and formulaic. But there are several zeal-inspired songs shifting through the blues, gospel and occasionally a twang of country-soul, during which Staton’s voice is at its most poignant, never more than in the opening third of the album which is blessed by a sublime horn section that even the Archangel Gabriel would struggle to gatecrash. Older hearts can still have their golden moments.
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