Guy Sebastian - Like It Like That (2009)

Six years and fours albums since the inaugural winner of Australian Idol became a household name, you’d have to wonder if he would still suggest that angels brought him here. As a man of faith, I don’t think he’d deny it, but the evidence would suggest a little more.

As far as Guy Sebastian’s latest album Like It Like That goes, it’s been brought to fruition with a lot of hard yakka and a little help from his friends.

One friend in particular is quite the stand-out; John Mayer. The label-mates met during John’s early 2007 tour and the two have clearly kept in touch, long enough at least for Guy to get his hooks into John’s stage-mate and soul-impresario in his own right, David Ryan Harris, who has co-written and produced the majority of the album.

As someone who rejected the notion of a televised karaoke contest being able to offer anything worthy of my time, I’m only familiar with the short string of Guy’s singles that I’ve caught on the radio over the years.

His evolution as a performer, even at my level of familiarity, is impressive – from that warbling kid with the ‘fro who felt the need to dramatise his every note with a dizzying level of vocal acrobatics, to a man confident in his abilities, a little more astute to the finer subtleties of his craft, but all the while retaining that soul factor that propelled him into the limelight in the first place.

Like It Like That is, for all intents and purposes, an album of breakaway soul-infused pop numbers, and they’re not bad at all.

The title track and lead single Like It Like That is a bustling, bouncy number that is equal parts fun and infectious, but as the opening track, it sets a misleading precedent – from here on out, the tone shifts to a little bit slower and a lot more ballad-y.

All To Myself is a The Temptations- inspired ode to lust, bred of brass and a toe tapping 60’s melody, while Art Of Love, a duet with American Idol winner Jordin Sparks, croons, not unpleasantly so, and reeks of radio friendliness.

Mayer lends his voice, in a backing capacity, to two tracks mid-album; however, it’s the sunny disposition of Magic and laid-bare come 60’s-nostalgic romanticism of Coming Home, along with Like It Like That, that are the crowning achievements of the album.

The lad may have received a few helping hands to get here, but, by the sound of it, he’s found a zone that bridges the space between satisfying himself, his fans and his record label, and, in an industry where the sound means everything, this can only be a good thing…

RATING: 3 out of 5

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