Uploaded September 2016 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago

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Using the Style Council's stylish, soulful sophisti-pop as a foundation, Mick Talbot and Steve White created a collection of light, jazzy soul-pop for their debut album, Off the Beaten Track. While the record couldn't be called "gritty," it is much earthier than their work with the Style Council, and it even develops nice, swinging grooves which let Talbot run wild with his Hammond organ Off The Beaten Track songs. The compositions themselves are inconsequential, but both Talbot and White demonstrate that their playing is funkier and looser than ever before, making Off the Beaten Track a pleasant soul-pop excursion. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Personnel: Mark Van Der Gucht, Paul Weller (guitar); Mark Feltham (harmonica); Alan Barnes (saxophone); Mick Talbot (electric piano, Clavinet, organ, synthesizer); Yolanda Charles (bass guitar); Steve White (drums, percussion).

Track Listings
1. Are We On?
2. Sticks And Stones
3. 'Til The Cows Come Home
4. Out Of My Box
5. Off The Beaten Track
6. Hopes And Fears
7. Riding The Rapids
8. Sonny's Prayer
9. 3's A Crowd
10. Under My Skin
11. Riding The Rapids (Max's Mad Mix)
12. Off The Beaten Track (4-1 Dub Mix)