Black Ice is the alter ego of US soul man Glynis John Martin, who these days, it seems, works most of the time out of Japan. I guess this 13 tracker might have been put together for the Japanese market but listening to it you’ll discover that it’s bob on the current US black music sound. That’s to say, the music cleverly rides the cusp between old skool soul and contemporary R&B. In fact there’s something for every kind of black music fan here. If you like to dance there’s some more than pleasing rug cutters with the title cut and ‘If Only You Knew’ standing out in that department. ‘Black Ice’ is crisp and tight but the chorus seems to borrow rather a lot from the Bee Gees’ ‘Staying Alive’. In fact if I were a short-of-money-Bee-Gee, I’d get my copyright lawyers on the case right away. ‘If Only You Knew’ is better and vaguely reminiscent of something too (Next?) – but I can’t quite put my finger on it. If you want ballads there’s plenty on offer. ‘Quiet Time’ and ‘Beg And Plead’ are sweet but ‘From the Heart’ becomes a tad cloying with the addition of a child’s voice. Elsewhere ‘VIP’ should please the R&B brigade – as too will the two-parter that is ‘Rock Me Baby/In My World’ – references a-plenty to booty spanking and Maseratis … you get the drift. Surprisingly for an indie album, production values are big and Mr. Martin coos as soulfully as many of our supposed big hitters. A decent album this – with that cut ‘If Only You Knew’ fast becoming a grower. Grab a trial listen on CD Baby.
(BB) 3/5
