Simply Red
A New Flame

Mick Hucknall is often preceded by defiance and zeal, his own, which, like a mirror, reflects on the average listener, generating a fair judgment in appearance but biased in content.

What does this red-headed guy with a dreadful haircut and a voice that vaguely reminds one of the mighty black soul singers dominating the choirs of rural American churches want?

It goes without saying that to many, the leader of the Simply Red project, gets on their nerves like that, raw to the bone.

And while the first impression is not entirely misleading in defining Mr. Hucknall's whims and quirks, it is also true that one should carefully evaluate the organoleptic aspect of the finished product.

Take, for example, the third studio work, "A New Flame", dated 1989. The predecessor, "Men And Women", handed over to Alex Sadkin, had spawned dissent and represented a step back from the debut album, "Picture Book". Hucknall would later clarify: "It was a mistake to entrust the production to Alex, and it's a shame to talk about it now that he's dead (Sadkin died in a motorcycle accident in Ibiza shortly after the release of 'Men And Women', in late 1987 ed.), but during the sessions, we realized he was more of a programmer than a producer."

"A New Flame," as I was saying, includes comprehensive quality leaps. Let's see some of them. First, the return of Stewart Levine (already the maker of "Picture Book") to production. Then, the introduction of Heitor Teixeira Pareira (aka Heitor T.P.) on guitar, replacing the academic (good, but far from excellent) Sylvan Richardson. Coming from the Brazilian school, Pareira guaranteed a colorful, bizarre, over-the-top contribution, complemented by excellent technique.

For the rest, the old formation was confirmed. On drums, the clean yet somewhat lacking personality of Chris Joyce (who would pay the price for this by being excluded from the next project, 'Stars'), on bass Tony Bowers (who had disagreements with Mick during the sessions), on keyboards and second vocals, the cornerstone Fritz Mcintyre ("there was tension in the studio between him and Mick," the saxophonist recounts: really?), Tim Kellet on trumpet and keyboards, Ian Kirkham on sax.

The search for a linear sound, the compromise between the singer who wanted to raise the tone and Levine who wanted to lower it, the placement of some covers to complement Hucknall's songwriting, were positive ingredients and contrasts in the album's economy. Which worked.

Producer and manager, Stewart Levine and Elliot Rashman, used great effort to keep Hucknall, eager to get to the desk to co-produce ("He wasn't ready yet," Levine would suggest a few years later, "And then, with that voice, why worry about production because of what? You can't do both well") and convince him to release the album's two cover songs as the first singles, "It's Only Love" by the Cameron brothers, and the sappy "If You Don't Know Me By Now" (Kenny Gamble).

"Blue-eyed soul", a definition suggested over time to catalog Simply Red's pop contaminated by rock-soul-jazzy echoes, seems perfectly fitting to classify "A New Flame" as a little pearl of the late '80s.

Love, treated with more variations on the album, starts from the exclamation point of "It's Only Love", finds disheartening sweetness in "You've Got It" and "Love Lays Its Tune", delightful torment in the elaborate "More", final indifference in the magnificent "Enough", realized in collaboration with Joe Sample. The title track brings a splash of sunshine, as does "Turn It Up", while "She'll Have To Go" gently invites Maggie Thatcher to take her leave.

The lowest point of the album is "To Be With You", which is a stretch, probably put there to dampen the serious and resolute tone represented by episodes like "More", "Enough", and "Love Lays Its Tune" and ends up disturbing the listener.

Before "A New Flame", Simply Red had regressed to a niche. Sales and live performance attendance had declined. This album marked the beginning of a European success destined to further increase with the subsequent "Stars", except for America.

Mick Hucknall is unbearable. This is passed down by those who worked on the "A New Flame" project, both in the pre and post-production phase and during the studio sessions. He creates tension, the redhead, but in this case, tension leads to a good result. Because the structure holds up, Mcintyre's marvelous keyboards are an excellent complement, Bowers slaps when there's slapping to do, and the contribution of choirs and brass is sober, essential, elegant.

"A New Flame" is a clean record, an excellent viaticum for leaving behind the '80s, filled with too many ghosts, and accessing the chaos and, why not, the cacophony introduced in the '90s without woes.