Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

For many different reasons the man behind the superb new album, Tell ‘Em I’m Gone seems to have had two very different careers. Two distinct arenas in which he has performed in and separated only by Time. Even the one in which he carved his name out initially under the name of Cat Stevens and latterly Yusuf, the bohemian minstrel with a voice and lyrical ability unlike anything else around at the time, a man whose lyrics could cause tears to well up at a moment’s notice, is disconnected but so entrenched in each part that to enjoy one area of work is to simply be gratified and comfortable in the other.

In his third album since Yusef Islam/Cat Stevens made his stunning return to the world of popular music, life has been…exciting to say the least. He has throughout it though, retained a peaceful serenity in which the music he writes captures the very essence of his soul and which envelopes the listener’s own immortal offering in a consoling promise in which quiet restrained anger gives way to a sort of understanding, a handshake perhaps across the divide with no malicious posturing in sight. This is just a peaceful man being cheered on by his incredible capacity.

Tell ‘Em I’m Gone is a collection of songs that give raise to the past, they salute the artist that was like never before but also hold true to an set of beliefs in which the man is raised up from. For Yusuf, Cat Stevens is still around, he has never really left after all but in tracks such as I Was Raised In Babylon, the excellent Dying To Live, the sanguinity of You Are My Sunshine and the tremendous The Devil Came From Kansas, the past shows itself perhaps more since any time before the awesome Tea For The Tillerman.

Yusuf’s instruction is to Tell ‘Em I’m Gone, perhaps the message should be a very loud and understandably vocal, tell them he is still thankfully here. Time passes very quickly and sometimes things become too bright to let go, the spirituality of music never really lets go of a soul that it has developed and in Yusuf Islam that music is hardy, beautiful and rare. A real pleasure to hear this man’s voice again.

Ian D. Hall