Boyz II Men: Twenty – review

Winners of the outstanding contribution to music award at the Mobos last week, Boyz II Men are well primed for their comeback. But despite sampling Beyoncé's latest single, what is most striking about their first new material in a decade is how oddly out of time it sounds. This is partly because Boyz II Men make admirably few concessions to updating themselves: Twenty is a ballad-heavy album in the vein of similar efforts in the past year by contemporaries El DeBarge and R Kelly, with old-school producers such as Teddy Riley and Jam & Lewis contributing soft-centred slow jams (Not Like You) and cuts that sound like lost new jack swing classics (Believe). The album's throwback feel is also bittersweet: Boyz II Men's comeback is a reminder that the tradition of R&B male harmony groups has, for now at least, all but died out. The lively creativity with which they put their vocal skills to use is a rare sound in 2011, from the overlapping, aqueous harmonies on So Amazing to the barbershop-inspired shoo-be-doo backing vocals on the irresistible Benefit of a Fool. Enjoy it while you can.