Anthony Cruz – Under The Covers

Covers

Under The Covers, the new studio album from the soulful Jamaican singer Anthony Cruz, has been released in partnership with Tad’s Records. The album includes 18 tracks, with the majority being reggae remakes of neo-soul and RnB classics. Very few Jamaican artists have released a full album of covers. One that instantly comes to mind is Devon Russell’s 1993 Curtis Mayfield tribute album Darker Than Blue. Many more albums were released that collected covers done by different artists. In 2000, UK-based Jet Star even started a series under the name Pop Hits Inna Reggae, which proved rather successful.

Anthony Cruz

Born Rohan Smith, Anthony Cruz grew up in Mandeville, Manchester. Hailing from a talented musical family – being the nephew of the celebrated singer Garnet Silk – he was convinced from a young age that he was destined to be a great singer. In 1993, while in Miami, fate led him to meet producer Willie Lindo, who was impressed with a demo tape he heard of Cruz and took him under his wings. In 1999, while back in Jamaica, Cruz recorded his first song, a cover of Santana’s Maria Maria, which became a hit. From then he continued to make hit songs including Mama’s Blessing, the infectious “Halfway Tree“, and the wicked combination tune with Buju Banton entitled Place Too Bloody.

The project

Let’s now turn our ears to the singer’s Under The Covers project. There are plenty examples of covers in reggae that are actually second-rate, as the song has not been improved but downgraded in its reggae version. With no less than 18 covers collected on this album, it is inevitable that this also applies here. On top of that, all the songs are sung by the same artist which is also not necessarily a plus as it offers little variety vocally. Anyway, having said that, let’s turn our gaze to some of the covers that are best done and thus appeal the most. First there’s the opener, Anthony Cruz’s 2021 reggae version of Silk Sonic’s Leave The Door Open, which brought the singer a hit in several reggae charts. Furthermore, delivering ample auditory enjoyment is the skillfully crafted performance of Ne-Yo’s Sexy Love, enhanced by its recognizable melodic setting. R. Kelly’s Step In The Name Of Love receives a reggae rendition that is sure to captivate the attention of those in a romantic mood. Another track worth hearing is the reggae-remix of Ashanti’s Foolish with again the familiar classic backdrop making the difference. And then there’s the somewhat odd choice to include Jah Cruz Medley, but it surely helps that it is underpinned by the rocksteady riddim well-known from Bitty McLean’s scorcher Walk Away From Love.

Anthony Cruz is a singer with a very good smooth voice but nothing included here that really distinguishes him in a big way from other singers in the genre. The final conclusion is that it would have been better if this selection of covers had been limited to about a dozen.