Space Under Sun (CD - 2003)

Personnel: Ari Gold; Desmond Child, Kendra Ross, Marsha Malamet, Pete Amato, Steve Skinner.

The second album by New York R&B crooner and beefcake pinup boy Ari Gold finds him continuing his exploration of smooth, soul-influenced club pop with explicitly gay romantic themes. His voice is as unobtrusively attractive as ever, and the grooves over which he sings (provided by such producers as Desmond Child, Major, Pete Amato, and Marsha Malamet) are all perfectly serviceable. There's a certain blandness to the proceedings, though -- Gold is an okay songwriter, but his "Bashert (Meant to Be)" is about as generic as modern R&B gets, and he turns Culture Club's "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me?" from a tuneful, sweet pop-reggae confection into a tepid, paint-by-the-numbers R&B confection. His vocal tricks -- the soulful ornaments, the whiny, pleading tone, the electronic robo-manipulations -- all seem to be more about triggering automatic listener responses than communicating anything musical. On the other hand, "Caught" features both gorgeous harmonies and a bracingly jittery groove, and "He's on My Team" (a duet with Kendra Ross) is both funny and charming. And if you get tired of the music, there are all those shower photos inside the package. ~ Rick Anderson minimize