Born to Do It (2008)

From the Beatles to the Sex Pistols to Fatboy Slim, the Brits have done a brisk trade selling rock back to America in natty new threads. Yet Sade aside, they can't seem to do the same sort of business with R&B. Sure, there's been some great, if mercurial talent -- Seal, Soul II Soul, Terence Trent D'Arby (in fact an American expat) -- but it's never quite hit. Blame the scarcity of gospel shouting, training ground Baptist churches in London, or the xenophobia of domestic fans; either way, U.S. R&B remains a largely closed market.

Craig David may change that -- at least if Atlantic Records has anything to say about it. He's a gorgeous 20 year old from Southampton with almond eyes, cappuccino skin, a George Michael goatee, and a homeboy meets hell raiser hairdo. And his debut, Born to Do It, released last year in the U.K. and elsewhere, has been breaking sales records like champagne swilling playas break stemware; at last check, it was seven times platinum in his home country, and the smooth operator was selling out arenas across Europe. Now, after an exhaustive media push (dude had an 80 page U.S. press file a month before the record came out), we finally get to hear what the fuss is about.

''Born to Do It'' is both more and less than its advance billing suggests. David is the first important vocal artist to emerge from the British club music known as two-step or garage -- a fizzy hybrid of drum and bass beats, house music swing, and R&B melody. ''Rewind,'' his 1999 collaboration with production duo Artful Dodger, turned garage into a pop sensation in England, and that song -- with its West Indian style MC chant and DJ effects -- caps ''Born.'' But club crawlers hoping for a dance music tour de force will be disappointed by what is, to the very depths of its soul, a pop fixated R&B record.

Those cruising for the latter, however, should prepare to be bedded. David's high tenor, two parts Stevie Wonder to one R. Kelly, slides and skips over sparkling arrangements, massaging the end of each line the way he might your feet after a night of dancing on stiletto heels at a debutante ball. He's often multitracked into teen group splendor or double timing through fluent rap singing. Melodies get sketched out by acoustic guitar, harp, or harpsichord; bells and wind chimes up the tinkle factor. And the rhythms bump along, busy but refined, nodding to American R&B scientist Timbaland just as he nods (admittedly or not) to British DJ music. It all gets a bit samey sounding, but its sexy canter works the mood thing like a good midtempo mix tape; it's music to grind to without spilling your Moët.

You Might Also Like

• Review Craig David: Born To Do It | Will Hermes
• Music News Craig David, England's club king, crosses the pond | Rob Brunner
• Music Review It's All About the Stragglers/Vital 2Step | David Browne
• Music Review Vital 2Step | David Browne
• In the News Here are the Grammy nominations | Gary Susman
• Music News Music