Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
Wheels Keep Turning, and the world continues to revolve from fad to fad and from new sensation to unfamiliar experience, and yet every so often we fall under the influence of something new from a mature virtuoso, and we wonder how they managed to expertly get under our skin, into our minds, and hear ourselves say with pride as each track plays out, “We are Under Your Spell, and it feels great.”
It is testament to the man, to the performer, and the legend that is Tito Jackson, that amongst the special guests on the album stand luminaries and leading lights, spectacular musicians in their own right; and if an album can accommodate such names as George Benson, Joe Bonamassa, Bobby Rush, Stevie Wonder, Eric Demmer and Kenny Neal within its ranks, no matter how small the contribution may be seen as being from envious eyes, it nonetheless proves how vibrant, how respected Tito Jackson is, and Under Your Spell solidifies that opinion absolutely.
From the initial seismic opening of the album’s lead track, Wheels Keep Turning, the album title track of Under Your Spell, Big Leg Woman, You’re Gonna Push Me Too Far, the splendid cover of B B King’s Rock Me Baby and I Got Caught (Loving In A Dream), Tito Jackson finds the progression between this second solo album, and the first in five years, and the connection from his illustrious past, to be a closer fit than even he might have imagined.
There is also a moment of continuation, of those wheels that have forever turned and returned to the experienced pastures that once lay at the door of the immortal as the song writing duo, and Hall of Famers, Kenny Gamble and Leon Duff came out of retirement to pen the exquisite All In The Family Blues for the man who was part of the biggest selling acts of all time. It is in that sense of honour and belief, that Under Your Spell lives with frank, incredible astuteness, with the familiarity of the wheels that continuously turn but with the passion of the naked innovative freshness to which this album demands to be listen to.
An all-time legend comes back into sharp focus and sounds arguably better than ever; it is surely impossible to not fall under his enchanting music.
Tito Jackson releases Under Your Spell on August 6th via Gulf Coast Records
Ian D. Hall