When the young British singer Alexander Stewart surfaced in 2011, he was hailed as a promising nu-crooner even in a field so crowded with hopefuls. This is his most ambitious venture, a mix of traditional and contemporary classics and four originals, backed by a powerful UK jazz band and a string section. Stewart’s light and breezy relaxation, and hipness in stretching a lyric over a swing beat are all in good shape here, with Stevie Wonder’s vocal phrasing hinted at in Wonder’s Part Time Lover, Willie Dixon’s I Just Want to Make Love to You sassily unfolded over a punchy horn arrangement, and Brother Can You Spare a Dime delivered with a kind of youthful perplexity amid sleazy sax glides and a fine alto solo from Alex Garnett. If there’s something of a generically lounge-jazzy sheen to this album at times (it feels harder to convincingly sing lyrics with “the game of love” in them these days), Stewart nonetheless negotiates it with musical elegance and plenty of heartfelt conviction.
