This album was a worry once the news was out that Kevin would be duetting with a woman on his new album. How could one formerly so intense and perfectionist hand over vocal duties to some woman. But none of the reviews have mentioned what a magnificent job Maddy Hyland does on the two tracks she appears on. Certain reviewers have got it completely wrong saying that she is overacting. OfThis album was a worry once the news was out that Kevin would be duetting with a woman on his new album. How could one formerly so intense and perfectionist hand over vocal duties to some woman. But none of the reviews have mentioned what a magnificent job Maddy Hyland does on the two tracks she appears on. Certain reviewers have got it completely wrong saying that she is overacting. Of course, it's a particularly English trait to fear displays of open emotion in public. The thing is, she is spot on in her reactions, amazingly and inspiringly so. Kevin Rowland said he looked for 5-6 years for the right woman, and I can say, wholeheartedly, that he found her. Unlike so many vocalist out there, Kevin brings out the meaning of the words, and Madeleine Hyland matches him. I reviewed the album and said that a full half of the album is as great as the brilliant tracks on Don't Stand Me Down, and the other half of the album is almost at that level, but a couple of the other songs (She Got A Wiggle and It's OK John Joe) have come on so strong that they are up there with the best here. Th slightly weaker tracks are the first, and the last before the inspired monologue It's Ok John Joe: Free. One Day I'm Going to Soar is not just a very good comeback, it's a brilliant album. The 5 tracks, Incapable of Love, You, I'm Always Going to Love You, Me, and Nowhere Is Home are the product of an undimmed genius, but every song on the album does him justice. This is in part due to the the detail of the instrumentation and production, which features many wonderful choices that create perfect moments. These are just a tiny part of the whole but add the depth that rewards many, many listens. Kevin manages the trick of making an album that is deeply soulful without falling into the usual trap of the music becoming wishy-washy and unfocussed. The album has a delightful soul tinge, but Kevin Rowland retains his laser-like intensity. Two new songs in a quarter of a century and then this. How on earth did he retain every last bit of the intensity that fuelled the genius of the first half of the 80s. He did it though unlike. This is unlike so many other artists who are, nevertheless, lauded clearly for simply being a name from the past. Music journalists either fool themselves or brazenly attempt (and often succeed) to fool the public into believing that greatness is still present (when there may not have been any in the first place). With Don't Stand Me Down, Rowland made one of those rare albums which stretches the boundaries of music; there, was greatness, in part signified by the lack of comprehension at the time by all those supposedly in-the-know who had, grudgingly, to come around later. True greatness was there then and, triumphantly, it flourishes still.… Collapse