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Lewis Taylor: Lewis Taylor (Island) **** £9.99

Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 16 August 1996

BRITISH SOUL stars are invariably compared to some American counterpart. Mark Morrison is derided as an R Kelly imitator and Seal as a composite of every perspiring crooner since 1964. Lewis Taylor looks set to occupy the "Marvin Gaye manqué" slot, but this is no mere copycat. He incorporates touches of Gaye, Curtis Mayfield and bluesmeister Robert Johnson but the haunting sound is entirely his own. It's essential listening for anyone interested in R&B, pop or trip-hop, yet it's not classifiable as any one of them. So, major-new-artist alert.

Total word count of piece: 321

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