Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis - Jam & Lewis: Volume One

The Guardian 0

(Flyte Tyme/BMG)
The veteran US hit-makers line up the guest stars on their immaculately produced debut

Forty years and 41 US Top 10 singles into their career, Minneapolis producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis have finally completed their debut album. To be fair, the tardiness is justified: Volume One feels meticulously pored over, with each of its 10 R&B and soul symphonies unfurling luxuriantly, unhurried by streaming-era attention spans.

The pair have also used that time to cherrypick a stacked roster of former collaborators, with frequent muse Janet Jackson the only notable absence. So an energised Mary J Blige channels 2001’s No More Drama on widescreen empowerment anthem Spinnin; Toni Braxton slinks huskily around the six-minute sadness suite Happily Unhappy; and Boyz II Men own the fluttering, key change-heavy 90s ballad The Next Best Day.