Ashford and Simpson

On their sixth album together, Nikolas Ashford and Valerie Simpson plunge into a lush pop
disco that's emotional as well as erotic, propulsive without sounding mechanized. Though
these singer/writer/producers have been a lot more stylistically adventuresome in the past
-- Simpson has the technique, if not the soulful intensity, to deliver punchy R&B and gospel
music -- they've never seemed more comfortable than they do here. Working in... More >

Here, my friends, is what comfort and idiosyncrasy are for: adulthood. This couple hit a groove right off and explore it with an internalized virtuosity that seems completely natural, celebrating love over thirty with a compassion and sensuality that makes the smartest disco and cabaret sound shallow. And where So So Satisfied worked more by mood than by composition, the songs here--my favorites are the painfully sexy title showpiece and the disco-identified "Get Up and Do Something"--brim with confidence and stay with you. (Grade - A-)