Simplyred.Com
2007
Stay
About This Album
Given his long history of smooth, classy blue-eyed soul, it's easy to forget that Mick Hucknall was inspired to make music by the Sex Pistols. While it's true that Hucknall's Simply Red has never, ever sounded like the Pistols -- or any punk for that matter -- there is an obstinate independent streak that runs throughout his music that's led him to such strange detours as Love and the Russian Winter, as well as his position as an independent artist in the new millennium, releasing Simply Red albums via his own label, Simplyred.com. That independent spirit also surfaces on some of the songs on 2007's Stay, his third release on Simplyred.com, but it's subtle and buried toward the end of the album. For the first half of Stay, Hucknall remains in his trademark upscale blue-eyed soul territory, sounding smooth and stylish whether he's singing ballads or snappier songs like the effervescent "Oh! What a Girl!" Although this sounds familiar, it sounds fresher than it has in a few years: Hucknall isn't trying to compete with such modern U.K. retro-soul phenoms as Amy Winehouse or Joss Stone, but he's looser and lighter than he was on 2003's Home, which is quite welcome.
Track List (try tracks 1,2,3,10 and 11)

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