Unfinished --
Jordan Knight’s first recording since 2005’s EP
The Fix and his first full-length of new material since 1999 -- doesn’t entirely ride the reputation
Knight established as perhaps the biggest heartthrob of
New Kids on the Block. Certainly, if
Unfinished has any cousin within the
NKOTB discography, it is not anything released during their ‘80s and ’90s heyday, it’s their 2008 comeback
The Block, a record designed to thrust the group into a mainstream that had long ago left them behind.
Unfinished bears the hallmarks of 2011 the way
The Block sounded like 2008, but
Knight wisely substitutes the lecherous sex talk of the
NKOTB for something that’s approaching genuine seduction. That
Knight’s smooth moves are frozen by cascading synths borrowed from the
Ryan Tedder handbook winds up being a negligible problem: sure, the production is at an icy remove, but the songs are cleanly professional and
Knight has a certain hunger to his performance, giving these steely, cluttered soundscapes a semblance of warmth which makes it a far cry better than the cold calculation of
The Block.