<Urban House> Mphoza has made his name on the back of some of the most infectious dance floor fillers to come out of Soul Candi in the last five years, especially the monster hit, Move. His contribution to the Candi Roots Vol.1 compilation showed his acute awareness of what works on the dance floor and he’s followed suit with his first artist album, Bring Back The Love, an offering that has the feel of a homage to it, with a distinctly old school, early nineties house vibe. Each track has a ring of familiarity that straddles the line between past and present, conjuring memories of the monster hits that helped cement house music’s place in the youth consciousness of South Africa. One consequence of this is that the album comes over as unrefined and if it’s meant to be a throwback to compilations like the Fresh House Flava, Smallz Sweet Soundz, What’s Phat Pussy Cat and the like, then it falls quite a way short of what was always going to be an impossible goal. No single producer could hope to remake the classics. But if you’re in the market for some unpretentious dance music, then Mphoza is definitely your man.
