Anthony Hamilton’s appeal isn’t only his raspy strong warm voice, which he’s applied to songs of wistful soul longing to great effect. It’s also the Grammy winner’s clear devotion to packing real quality and feeling into his music. The only fluff here is maybe in your pillows before you lie back and enjoy the ear-massaging groove.

It’s nice mostly smooth sailing on Back To Love (RCA) with a few electric jolts scattered throughout. Hamilton desires and lusts and aches but is a refined, restrained gentleman who doesn’t need to get vulgar to make a sexy point. He is a consummate suit-and-tie tip-his-hat-to-a-lady gallant soul man. “Sucka For You” goes right to the heart of a man attracted in the lyrics “Ain’t too proud to beg/ Ain’t too tired to stay up all night.” “Woo” breaks down the struggle of a good guy fighting to avoid being unfaithful to his love with a beautiful and willing woman.

There’s a sleek and upbeat convergence of sped-up rock percussion that throws a little rock more uptempo R&B fusion into the soul stew. No doubt the fact that Babyface Edmonds co-produced on Back In Love has a lot to do with it. “Mad” is one of the standout slayers- a lovably cranky harmonica- infused  blues-spiced complaint of a man in love who’s just in a bit of a bad mood at the moment. In “Pray For Me,” a man suffers regrets over cheating and calls out to heaven to send the love he betrayed back to him. He joins forces with Keri Hilson on for the duet “Never Let Go.” Strains of gospel come to the fore, not unexpected given Hamilton’s background as a choir member on “Life Has A Way.”

Throughout Back To Love, sometimes the genre mixing seems a little off in the percussion department, jarring and breaking the flow, even on the excellent “Sucka For You,” but that’s part of what forging ahead and creating new material is all about. Don’t let it stop you from savoring the good time Back To Love definitely is.

3.5 / 5 bars

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