★★★★☆
As the UK heatwave looks to dissolve into its usual repetition of wet weekends, golden beach, glistening sea, Latin-zested house and Shisa-smoked soul, softly delivered by Nathan Adams, looks to stay with you a little longer. The London artist could well sing you into a sangria-assisted coma, replacing dance floor hardwood with silk-covered bubbles.
Some of Adams’ aural remedy is middle of the road, beat-for-beat textbook — the inclusion of neo-soul-by-numbers “Don’t Break My Heart” adds to the making of eyelids taking longer and longer to blink. Yet you’d rather be Sunday driven by beat chauffeurs Louie Vega, DJ Spinna and Blaze’s Josh Milan than some uneducated madman. With the soulful, bar house injected with ubiquitous super fluidity that makes for a carnival atmosphere without it ever being too rambunctious, almost as if it’s the designated driver of a Mardi Gras float, the ever approachable, accommodating comforts of organic instrumentation and the studio being set to purr make the sentiments even more genuine. If you feel it’s too floaty, or don’t find “Don’t Stop the Rain” just lovely, remove your unsightly self from the beach, now.
Adams has heart and sincerity on this getaway for two, but finds room for “Fade Away” to inch towards a Donnell Jones sugared swagger, “Melody” doing Omarion, and “Chasing Love”, with its hip-hop soul, semi-conversational game, showing he’s not exclusively a pretty boy. Go get yourself a dose, whether the sun’s blazing or you need some rainy day security.
File under: Terry Hunter, Shaun Escoffrey, Kenny Bobien