New wave starts to surface on
Never Let You Go, thanks to the punchy percussion and jangle of the opening "I'll Never Let You Go," but
Rita Coolidge embraces the new wave, covering
Squeeze ("Tempted"),
Ian Dury ("Stop Wasting Your Time"),
Culture Club ("Do You Really Want to Hurt Me"), and
Joe Jackson ("Fools in Love"). This is hardly a full-on skinny-tie record, though -- there are also covers of
Al Green and
Bob Seger, plus straight-ahead adult contemporary in the form of "Shadow in the Night" -- but this new wave predilection not only is fascinating, it's also fun. Certainly, the production -- all by David Anderle, half co-produced by
Bernie Worrell -- dilutes the quirkiness and dulls the edge of new wave, but it's a happy balance of futurism and class and a wonderful little new wave anomaly that deserves to be heard. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine