Music

When the artist formerly known as Cat Stevens converted to Islam, sold his guitars and started to make ill-advised pronouncements on Salman Rushdie, it became reasonable to assume that he wouldn’t be recording any more psych-pop gems in a hurry. His few musical excursions since have included (mercifully unrecorded) songs with titles like ‘A Is For Allah’ and ‘Afghanistan: Land Of Islam’, and a 1997 album with a Bosnian poet – for which he practically apologised for using musical instruments, for fear that it might upset some fundamentalists who regard accompanied music as forbidden.

So it comes as a shock to see him release a proper pop record – his first in 28 years, with drums and electric guitars and everything! – exchanging humourless piety for populist evangelism. There are some reminders that he was once a bit of a player: the opener ‘Midday’ recalls early ’70s Van Morrison; the bonkers ‘I Think I See The Light’ negotiates tricksy time signatures; and the silly but oddly moving ‘Green Fields, Golden Sands’ recalls John Lennon’s ‘Imagine’. The rest are gloopy power ballads that sound like modern Christian hymns, with devotional lyrics that manage to be both naifish and pompous. It shows that Yusuf could, God help us, have spent the last 28 years as an Islamic Cliff Richard. Thank Allah for small mercies.