Duane Stephenson - Dangerously Roots, Journey From August Town (VP Records)

Stephenson rose to fame with the megahit 'August Town' and the subsequent eponymous 2008 debut album. In 2010, 'August Town' was followed by its successor 'Black Gold', but then things went quiet again... as far as releases are concerned at least, because Duane put his solo career on hold for a few years to tour as a lead-vocalist with The Original Wailers (the formation including Al Anderson). 'Dangerously Roots' doesn't contain only new songs, as the track list also contains a cover version of Bunny Wailer's 'Cool Runnings' and one of the r&b classic 'Ghetto Religion' (Jr. Kelly and Wyclef Jean). For that last song Duane invited none less than Tarrus Riley and I-Octane ('Julene') and Lutan Fyah ('House Of Lies') also make a guest appearance. Oddly enough Duane also opted to include 'Nah Play', one of the better tracks from his 'Black Gold' album.

With 'Good Good Love' Stephenson signs for one of the best lovers rock tunes we heard this year and even though this album is titled 'Dangerously Roots', with songs like 'Simply Beautiful', 'Julene', 'Dance For Me' or 'Come Right In', the track list contains more than enough lovers tunes. It could be related to the title, but for yours truly 'Dangerously Roots, Journey From August Town' is stylistically more related to Stephenson's excellent debut, 'Augustus Town' than to its successor 'Black Gold'. Should yours truly's opinion not suffice though, there's always Mutabaruka, who lauds Stephenson's talent both in the intro and outro of the album.