Review: Craig David – The Time Is Now…?

Rising to fame back in 1999 when he featured on the Artful Dodger’s single ‘Re-Rewind,’ he has had a number of successful years in the industry.

During this time he has managed to obtain two number-one singles and had his Born To Do It album not only reach number one, but stay in the Top 40 for 71 weeks.

All this happened, and then he disappeared for a number of years. Six years on he returned with sub-par music — firstly with the album Following My Intuition, and now with The Time Is Now.

The music he has created in the past couple of years isn’t bad, but it isn’t good either. None of his new stuff can be compared to the likes of ‘Fill Me In’ or ‘7 Days’ — it couldn’t even be classed in the same league.

Those songs are classics, staples which people still listen to now. I can’t imagine any of the songs from this album having the same effect and being able to withstand the test of time.

The two singles released pre-album offered a promising glimpse of what was to come. ‘Heartline’ has an incredibly catchy beat, making it difficult to forget once stuck in your head.

Once you find out that the song was produced by Jonas Blue, this fact is completely understandable. But even though the song’s beat is incredibly current, I don’t think this is one that will make lasting ripples.

‘I Know You’ is another track which was released pre-album. Just one of the many tracks on this album which feature another artist, this surprising collaboration with Bastille’s Dan Smith works well; Craig David’s vocals combined with a deep bass drop and a simple chorus makes for a good song, and it’s been propelled to number seven in the Top 40.

Throughout The Time Is Now it appears as though Craig David is grasping at straws to stay relevant, and as such, he appears a little behind the times.

This is further shown by the number of guest appearances on this album. With just under half the songs featuring another artist, from the likes of JP Cooper to Chase & Status, it appears as though he isn’t even the main focus of his own album. Not the desired effect I’m sure.

Rating is a 5/10 — for me, The Time Is (no longer) Now for Craig David.