New Horizon

This is one of the less-appreciated records among Hayes’s catalogue, but it might just be the pinnacle of his absolutely extraordinary studio craft. From the full-bore orchestral disco of “Stranger in Paradise” to the lush ballad “It’s Heaven to Me,” every chord, every lick, every single percussion hit, is so lovingly rendered that it’s hard not to be swept up into it. The ludicrous and all-too-easily pastiched 70s sexuality of “Moonlight Lovin’ (Menage a Trois)” might seem a bit rich, but the all-in sensualism is precisely the point: these perfectly realised textures are designed to seduce and delight at endless length. With its low and slow tantric repetitions, “Don’t Take Your Love Away” is a masterpiece in itself, but there isn’t a bad track on this album.