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Mica Paris VibeZ

Twelve tracks from a British singer who had a gospel voice, a top ten career, and an unusually clear sense of what she was for.

Mica Paris

Michelle Wallen was born in south London to a family of Jamaican descent and grew up singing in the Pentecostal church — her grandparents were ministers. She was a backing vocalist for the British soul group Hollywood Beyond before releasing So Good in 1988 at nineteen, which made her a significant figure in the wave of British soul that also produced Soul II Soul, Loose Ends and Omar.

Her voice is the reason to be here: a full, gospel-trained contralto with genuine power, used with more restraint than most singers with that equipment manage. She has since built a substantial career as a broadcaster and actor as well, and has returned repeatedly to gospel and blues material.

What to listen for

"My One Temptation"-era material established her, and "Breathe Life Into Me" in the extended remix is the dance record that carried her onto the floor.

"Where Is The Love" is the duet with Will Downing — a transatlantic pairing that was a genuine hit and remains one of the best British soul records of its decade.

The covers are where the voice is most exposed and they are the reason to stay. "In the Ghetto" is Elvis by way of Mac Davis, and she finds the social lyric underneath the sentimentality. "I Want To Know What Love Is" takes on Foreigner. "Tracks of My Tears" takes on Smokey Robinson.

The gospel material is the strongest. "Motherless Child," "Amazing Grace," and "Take My Hand, Oh Precious Lord" with Jools Holland — the last being Thomas A. Dorsey's song, written after the death of his wife and child, and one of the foundational texts of gospel music.

"A Change Is Gonna Come" is the Sam Cooke, and taking it on requires nerve.

Go deeper

So Good (1988) and Contribution (1990) are the albums — the latter produced in part by Prince associates and featuring Rakim, which tells you how seriously she was taken.

Her later gospel and blues records, including Gospel (2020), are where she sounds most at home.

For the British soul scene she belongs to: Omar, Soul II Soul, Loose Ends, Caron Wheeler and Beverley Knight. It is a tradition that has never had the documentation it deserves.

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