Ben Harper: Diamonds on the Inside

By RUSSELL BAILLIE

(Herald rating: * * * * )

It was high time Ben Harper toughened up. The Californian with the faithful following here - he's back again at the end of the month - had begun to deliver albums which were taking him nowhere he hadn't already been before. A case of deep roots and little growth.

True, Diamonds on the Inside doesn't exactly find him doing anything that unexpected. The young fogey is still delivering a line in retooled blues, funk, reggae and rock, and his lyrics on matters spiritual and political remain a case of - as Edwyn Collins sings - "too many protest singers, not enough protest songs".

But Diamonds still emerges as one of Harper's better efforts.

It sounds personal, and makes a virtue of his rootsy variety show.

Harper and his backers the Innocent Criminals are bold about genre-hopping and that confidence is vital. It's present whether he's doing reggae on the Marley-conscious opener With My Own Two Hands; stamping out an acoustic blues on When It's Gone, which comes with vocals playful enough to sound like Prince down the bayou; letting the groove get the better of him on the soul-funk Brown Eyed Blues and Bring The Funk; or getting Hendrix-happy on the likes of Temporary Remedy and So High So Low.

There is some forgettable filler material along the way but near the end Harper brings in Paul Simon's old South African chums Ladysmith Black Mambazo as backing choir on Picture of Jesus, a hushed hymn of lilting Afro-gospel. Proof that, while we know plenty of folk down here like him, someone up there likes him, too.

Label: Virgin