David Jordan: Set the Mood
Editorial
Release date: 23 May 2008 (Mercury)
When I saw that Trevor Horn had produced David Jordan's debut album, I was excited. The man produced Grace Jones's epic Slave to the Rhythm, for god's sake. While he's been less prolific in recent years, he still emerges now and then to produce a genius bit of OTT pop - most recently, TATU's All the Things She Said. Someone give the man a medal for services to pop!
Unfortunately, and rather oddly for an album with Horn's name all over the credits, Set the Mood slinks by in a smooth, coffee-table-soul fashion. This is, in itself, not a bad thing - Will Young has become a master of the formula over the course of his three brilliant albums. But where David Jordan's debut is lacking is in the area of memorable songs: there are only a handful here.
Place in My Heart sticks out like a sore thumb: it's a gloriously camp mix of falsetto vocals, tinkly disco keyboards and quasi-socially-conscious lyrics. It's the one time Jordan dares to sound wonderfully naff and shows that, with the right songs, he has the potential to be as big as Mika - he'd be the Mika you don't feel like hitting with a blunt object.
But too often it sounds like he's holding back, afraid to let his music sound too colourful.
There are flashes here that show Jordan is a prodigious talent, with a versatile, soulful voice that recalls Terence Trent D'Arby in that brief, glorious period before he went a bit wrong in the head. Now all he needs is an album that showcases it properly.
Tracks:
1. On the Money
2. Place In My Heart
3. Sun Goes Down
4. Set the Mood
5. Love Song
6. Move On
7. Sweet Prince
8. If I'm In Love
9. Glorious Day
10. Only Living Soul
11. Fight the World
When I saw that Trevor Horn had produced David Jordan's debut album, I was excited. The man produced Grace Jones's epic Slave to the Rhythm, for god's sake. While he's been less prolific in recent years, he still emerges now and then to produce a genius bit of OTT pop - most recently, TATU's All the Things She Said. Someone give the man a medal for services to pop!
Unfortunately, and rather oddly for an album with Horn's name all over the credits, Set the Mood slinks by in a smooth, coffee-table-soul fashion. This is, in itself, not a bad thing - Will Young has become a master of the formula over the course of his three brilliant albums. But where David Jordan's debut is lacking is in the area of memorable songs: there are only a handful here.
Place in My Heart sticks out like a sore thumb: it's a gloriously camp mix of falsetto vocals, tinkly disco keyboards and quasi-socially-conscious lyrics. It's the one time Jordan dares to sound wonderfully naff and shows that, with the right songs, he has the potential to be as big as Mika - he'd be the Mika you don't feel like hitting with a blunt object.
But too often it sounds like he's holding back, afraid to let his music sound too colourful.
There are flashes here that show Jordan is a prodigious talent, with a versatile, soulful voice that recalls Terence Trent D'Arby in that brief, glorious period before he went a bit wrong in the head. Now all he needs is an album that showcases it properly.
Tracks:
1. On the Money
2. Place In My Heart
3. Sun Goes Down
4. Set the Mood
5. Love Song
6. Move On
7. Sweet Prince
8. If I'm In Love
9. Glorious Day
10. Only Living Soul
11. Fight the World
Nick Bond, June 2008
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