(Ark 21)

Happily, no matter how seemingly lackluster or trite love songs *can* become, Paul Carrack's subtly soulful vocals - in Blue Views and elsewhere - reveal unfailing honesty, warmth, and a fullness that transcend any less than appealing generic concerns.

Paul Carrack may as well be appointed Professor Emeritus for SONGWRITING 101 workshops nationwide. Carrack has written for and worked with Pop notables like The Smiths, Elvis Costello, Madness, Nick Lowe, Roxy Music, Diana Ross (!), ad infinitum.

His steady stream of hits in which *his* spotlight shines began with his stint in the band Ace ("How Long" [...Has This Been Going On]), and hit a running stride in his often overlooked fourth solo record One Good Reason (Chrysalis), which gained him Top 10 billing. Brilliant popsters Squeeze showcased Carrack's stellar vocals in yet another hit, "Tempted," and Mike & the Mechanics ("The Living Years") added more good stuff to an already monumental body of work.

Carrack, back on the beat solo style, keeps the sometimes muddy tempo of Blue Views afloat with clever melodies, his by now renowned brandy liqueur vocals, and an always haunting extended "blue note" tonality and way of weaving progressions that metamorphose nicely into definite "mood music." His revamping of "How Long" only reveals its modernity in slight production value shifts, and it carries with it all the emotionality as it did the first time around.

"Love Will Keep Us Alive," his heartbreakingly sweet tome first penned for the Eagles, is written and stuctured so well, it leaves you unaware the band might actually have sung it a mite sweeter. These two more familiar tunes above provide a strong base for the niche Carrack's working on, groove, by groove, to get us into his own original *hits.* On that front, Carrack has a way to go yet, as they give us only all we expect comfortably, but don't seem to *dance* as well as the former two.

Blue Views is the lover you've had in your life for as far back as you can remember: the grooves fit, their very presence calms the soul, and you're glad, at least, that you can sit and rest a while...that they'll be here to stay. The rest comes later.