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Envision a penny dreadful being sung aloud inside a pub while Roni Size tries to squeeze drunken gospeltronica out of his sequencer banks.
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An album that takes a dramatic leap forward from the wafer-thin reggae he was peddling on his debut album...
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It’s pleasant enough music if you’re having a Caribbean-themed barbecue in your backyard, I guess, but little here will challenge your musical senses or move you in any way.
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Finley Quaye's 1997 debut, Maverick a Strike, was such an ebullient blast of sunshine, such a signature reinvention of reggae, that it was well worth wondering if the young Scotsman was the next Bob Marley. Nearly four years in coming, Quaye's follow-up album, Vanguard, has enough distinctively soulful moments to leave the door open on that question, but also enough lightweight material to leave you wondering if Quaye isn't as much a novelty as a visionary.
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VibeDespite its trippy promise, the album sometimes falters because of Quaye's quirky, self-indulgent lyrics. [Apr 2001, p. 170]