The debut album from was originally issued on the band's own label in its native New Zealand, where the disc promptly shipped gold and gained notoriety as the first indie album ever to hit number one on that country's charts. It ended up spending 42 weeks in the Top Ten. So expectations were high for the U.S. issue of on the label, and the album doesn't disappoint. Although the band favors the term "hi-tek soul" to describe its music, the simple fact is that most of these songs fall squarely in the / category, with occasional excursions into and jazzy, semi-electronic . 's voice is appealingly silky and soulful without being off-puttingly slick, and the band's horn section contributes alternately smooth and chunky chordal backing along with old-school organ and more modern synthesizer sounds. The mood of is pretty consistently laid-back and mellow, and it's a little bit hard to identify highlights from among the album's mid-tempo offerings, but the extra edge of is especially nice, and nicely evokes early . The swinging beat and flute of are also lots of fun. Highly recommended. ~ Rick Anderson