Back in the late 60s and early 70s, Cat Stevens was THE most popular folk-styled singer/songwriter on the planet, with major hits like “Peace Train” and “Where Do The Children Play” and million selling albums like Tea For the Tillerman. Major health, life and spiritual directions lead him to convert to Islam, where he was rarely musically heard from again.Times and epochs change, and lo and behold, Stevens, aka Yusef Islam, or simply “Yusef,” is back in form, even re-uniting with producer Paul Samwell-Smith for what is arguably his most accessible and innocent album since the days of Tea for the Tillerman and Teaser and the Firecat. The songs come across as gentle tunes for children, obviously reaching back out to the child in all of us, and the olive branch works amazingly well.
Yusef is in excellent and rich vocal form, teaming up with Alun Davies/g, Maartin Allcock/b-key, Kwame Yeboah/dr and intermittently with Nick Ingman’s orchestrations and choir supplementations. Yusef himself plays nylon guitar and keyboards as well, and is cozily intimate on the warm “Blackness of the Night” and “The Laughing Apple” (with fun glockenspiel) but also relaxed and comforting during “Don’t Blame Them” and “Olive Hill.” Pieces like “You Can Do (Whatever)!” have a late 60s optimistic innocence while “See What Love Did to Me” is a catchy tune that is also mature. This album is a breath of fresh air; if he comes around, get on the road to find out if he’s playing around your town!