So Still

Although this is his debut solo album, Mozez (aka Osmond Wright) has been singing professionally since 1994, when he was half of a successful gospel duo called Spirits. Following a stint as singer for Zero 7, he put out this strikingly unusual album, one that sets out a dreamy, almost gauzy, and deeply personal vision of modern R&B. Opening with a lovely 6/8 number titled "Feel Free," So Still then floats and bobs on a warm and gentle (but not always sweet or musically obvious) tide of downtempo beats, electronic burblings, acoustic strings, live trumpet, and even a vocoder. Mozez's voice falls somewhere between Aaron Neville's ethereal treble and Terence Trent d'Arby's muscular falsetto, and it sounds best on the gorgeous acousto-electro soul of "Somehow Now" and the sweetly catchy "Spinning Top." "Venus Rise" suffers from silly lyrics ("On the plains of Egypt, with the pharaohs/You used to play mind games") and an almost complete lack of melody, but the subtle elegance of the accompaniment (which includes a closely miked Jon Hassell on trumpet) wins you over anyway, as does "Take the Sun," with its cheesy-but-fun disco-era vocoder. Several mediocre tracks toward the middle of the album threaten to bog down the whole program, but Mozez's voice keeps floating up to the top of the mix and lifting everything up with it. Recommended.