Three years after releasing the heavenly midtempo boogie track
"Falling in Love"
on
Salsoul
,
Surface
signed to
Columbia
and released their first album, a Lover's Lane paradise populated by aching, delicately durable ballads --
"Happy"
being the absolute hottest. Few of the ten tracks cannot be classified as slow or slowish, including the decent late-period electro of
"You're Fine"
and
"Lady Wants a Man,"
as well as the faintly
-echoing
"Feels So Good."
Otherwise, it's slow grinding and gentle pleading, none of which is overly dramatic -- not by mid-'80s R&B standards, at least. Between this and the first
Keith Sweat
, contemporary songwriters and producers aiming to make steamy, electronically enhanced slow jams have several ideas just waiting to be lifted. ~ Andy Kellman