Like the other entries in VP's
Riddim Driven series,
Sunlight features singers and DJs voicing over the same backing track, and this time out it's the rhythm to
Katrina & the Waves' 1985 mega hit "Walking on Sunshine," which was sort of pop-soca to begin with, and seems even more so here. Infectious and bright as the beach in summer, the
Sunlight rhythm makes almost any lyric and melody go down easy, and nearly all of the tracks compiled here have an irresistible feel.
Calibe and
Elephant Man start things off with their own version of "Walking on Sunshine," and it's a good deal sexier than the original.
Mr. Easy's "Caribbean Queen," Voice Mail's "What Ah Thing," and
Lady Saw's smooth, assured "Can You Dance" are other high points in an anthology that may well make you bounce around the room like a ping-pong ball.
Notch uses a remnant of the melody to
Culture Club's 1984 hit "Karma Chameleon" over the
Sunlight rhythm in an ode to the perfect smoke, "Sensimelia," and one wonders exactly how that arrangement came to be. Spirited, happy-sounding, and impossible to sit still to,
Sunlight is one of the brighter entries in this long-running dancehall series. ~ Steve Leggett