Nothing to be

(Morning Star, Saturday 28 May 2005)

...Something To Be

(MELISMA/Atlantic)

There's a curious thing about solo male artists in the modern age.

They seem to be either the self-loathing, overly emotional types such as Damien Rice or the sadly missed Elliott Smith, or they go the way of George Michael and Darius - impossibly smug and deserving of a smack.

Rob Thomas has pulled off a previously inconceivable feat - he straddles the line between these two camps and is, therefore, both.

Matchbox 20, another of the bands that we are told are "huge in America" and all around the world, boast Thomas as their frontman and, one imagines, primary creative force.

Best known for his anodyne rendering of Carlos Santana's Smooth in 1999, he has here seen fit to commit to record his own brand of "soulful" music.

From opener This Is How A Heart Breaks, it's clear there's about as much soul in Thomas as in Carrie-era Cliff Richard.

Single Lonely No More is doubtless being battered through overuse on a commercial station near you.

Don't even bother listening to I Am An Illusion, it is a talent vacuum complete with sampled warblings from Bessie Jones and enough crazy trumpet and sax and to make anyone scream.

There is a story about Thomas's personal circumstances, but let these not blind you to the facts - this is terrible music.

The ellipsis in the title would appear to be Thomas's way of adding a gimmicky depth to his debut solo effort, but it simply begs the consumer to fill in the blank for themselves.

The best complete title I can come up with is Dear God, Can You Please Give Me a Sign That I Have Something to Be. The answer, says God, is no.