MARK KNIGHT – UNTOLD BUSINESS – TOOLROOM

The singles ‘All 4 Love’ and more recently ‘Everything’s Gonna Be Alright’ have been big business for Mark Knight – and they are two of the 13 cuts on ‘Untold Business’, his new all-star album. Knight is a classy operator for sure, working with a disco-house style that gives reassuringly solid beats, hooks aplenty and excellent vocals. The songs are really well written, radio-friendly and emotive too. It will be hard for anyone to top the contributions of Beverly Knight and the London Community Gospel Choir on ‘Everything’s Gonna Be Alright’, which is a fantastically uplifting song, but Knight complements this with ‘Bit By Bit’, beautifully sung by Chenai. Elsewhere, highlights include Damon Truiett’s silky contribution to ‘You Saw Me’, Michael Gray & Gia adding class to ‘Love Is All We’re Living For’, and the combined smokiness of D. Ramirez & Robert Owens with ‘Pass It Up’. The slick ‘Feel The Pressure’, featuring Shingy, is further proof of the album’s strength in depth. Just occasionally the production can be too dense, but each track hits the spot with the quality vocalists Knight has on board. If we get something worthy of the name ‘summer’ this year, then here is a candidate for its ideal soundtrack!
5 out of 5
Reviewed by Ben Hogwood