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Edwin Yearwood
Next to You
VP Records
www.vprecords.com
VPCD 1704

About a decade ago, the sound of raggasoca ruled at the Caribbean Club in my home town of Preston, England - it was basically soca music with a dancehall Dee-jay grafted on, but it worked, and never failed to get the dance-floor rammed. In recent years Kevin Lytle and Rupee have enjoyed a lot of popularity with a combination of the two styles, and with this release Edwin Yearwood, the lead singer of Barbadian soca kings Krosfyah (whose mid-nineties hit ‘Pump Me Up’ he revisits here), definitely blurs the boundaries, freely - and totally successfully - mixing bashment, soca and a little rootsier reggae for a pan Caribbean experience.

Guests on this stellar, radio-friendly set include an unmistakeable Lady Saw, Lexxus, Mr Mojo of Morgan Heritage and Cecile, with the music based around digital rhythms and backings. There is a little reasonably straightforward soca, but most of the set should – and I believe already does – satisfy followers from both the eastern Caribbean and Jamaica. It’s not hard to see why VP are pushing this one. I get the feeling I’ll be hearing a lot of this at Preston’s Carnival this year. - Norman Darwen