Ben Harper & Relentless7 (Virgin)
The frustrating thing about Harper’s consistently mediocre career is that he so rarely plays to his strength. Despite being blessed with an expressive and sonorous voice, he never gives himself a decent melody to sing; and as a lyricist, he never met a cliché he didn’t like. Things aren’t helped here by the addition of Harper’s new group, a blunderbuss rock quartet who never manage to force the gearstick out of third.
WILL FULFORD-JONES
