Maverick a Strike (1998)

Seeing that his nephew is trip-hop pioneer Tricky and his half brother was a session musician for Elton John, it's no wonder that Finley Quaye's modern reggae orbits somewhere between rock and a heart place. On his alluring debut, Maverick a Strike, Quaye weaves soulful vocals through a tapestry of dynamic guitar, spacey keyboards, and funk beats that resonate both pain and pleasure. B+