Moonlight Lover

Album Review

Moonlight Lover essentially reissues dancehall vocalist Barrington Levy's debut album entitled Bounty Hunter. Under any name, this is classic material from the dawn of the dancehall era. Much like Ken Boothe, whose smooth voice helped ease Jamaican music from rocksteady to the slow churning rhythms of reggae, Levy's sweet and steady voice anchored the music as it shifted to the even harder and more minimal sound of dancehall. And while others were also there to captain the journey, most notably the gruff and biblical Prince Far I, none of them were crooners of Barrington Levy's stature. Levy is backed by the tough Roots Radics band and the music is mixed by Scientist, whose productions in many ways defined the early-'80s Jamaican sound. Added to this release are three single B-sides, "Moonlight Dub," "Skylarking Version," and "Shine Eye Gal Version."