UB40 featuring Ali Campbell & Astro, “Unprecedented.”

Before Terence “Astro” Wilson passed away suddenly last fall at 64, the cofounder of UB40 recorded one final album with Ali Campbell. The duo, sometimes with Micky Virtue, constituted one of two active variations of the classic ’80s and ’90s pop-reggae band UB40, which splintered in 2008. Former bandmates Robin Campbell, Eari Falconer, Jimmy Brown and Norman Hassan retained the official band moniker, while, for legal reasons, Astro, Ali Campbell and Virtue became “UB40 featuring…” themselves.

Both UB40s have stayed active. The other incarnation last released an album in 2021—Bigga Baggariddim—that included collaborations galore to reimagine some of the original group’s songbooks. The “featuring” version of the group last released 2018’s A Real Labour Of Love, which reached No. 2 in the U.K. albums chart. That is, to say, that UB40 is still an established, well-producing name in music—one worth fighting for.

On new album Unprecedented, in addition to writing a handful of original tracks, UB40 featuring Ali Campbell & Astro borrow a page from their former bandmates, taking on some existing songs. But rather than looking at their own catalog, they focus efforts on artists who inspired them, such as reggae pioneers The Kingstonians and iconic legends like Stevie Wonder, Kris Kristofferson and Bill Withers.

Campbell and Astro recorded at studios in London and Jamaica in between lockdowns, which also pointed the spotlight at the anxiety of the pandemic and political unrest in the U.K. While Astro didn’t live to see the album’s release, he was fully involved in its creation.

UB40’s biggest commercial hits in the ’80s and ’90s were originally written by others—“Red Red Wine,” “(I Can’t Help) Falling In Love With You,” “I Got You Babe” with Chrissie Hynde—and on the new album Campbell and Astro remind listeners why that was such an effective formula. The covers here are reimagined as reggae in such a way that they’re barely distinguishable.

The rootsy stutter-step percussion, downbeat strumming and swelling strings add a jolt to the originally downcast and melancholic-sounding country ballad, “Sunday Morning Coming Down.” The vocals are more pronounced than Kris Kristofferson’s drawl.

Stevie Wonder’s “Do Yourself a Favor,” which here gets the addition of the British “u” (“Do Yourself A Favour”) retains its funky edge but replaces Wonder’s keyboard lines with bold percussion and the reggae strumming. “Lean On Me” is easily recognizable, of course, but that’s because it’s an iconic artist’s most iconic song. The album also includes a bonus track of a “Lean On Me” remix featuring dancehall DJ and producer Bounty Killer that’s tailor-made for Top 40 radio. Bounty Killer’s presence on pop songs typically adds a reggae flair, but on an already reggae-sounding song, his rapping drives the point home.

UB40 featuring Ali Campbell & Astro pay tribute to other reggae and dancehall artists in “Heaven In Her Eyes,” originally by London-born artist of Jamaican and Dominican descent, Gappy Ranks, and “Sufferer,” popularized by The Kingstonians. The former, a swaying melodic ballad, is a rather faithful recreation. The latter is a skipping tune with various melodic and distorted synths, and Campbell dedicated it to Astro upon its recent release as a single, describing it as one of their favorites.

“Astro was so proud of our version of this song, as am I,” Campbell said. “This song is more poignant and special than I ever realized after Astro heartbreakingly passed away after recording this album. We want to keep his memory alive through his music and this song and album.”

Campbell’s and Astro’s “Sufferer” adds a modern sheen over the scratchy, rustic recording by The Kingstonians, but this is a song that has been recorded many ways by many artists. There’s also a sped-up, more polished take on the late Louisa Marks’ “Caught You In a Lie,” a tongue-in-cheek song about a lover spurned by her cheating man, who’d told her the woman she saw him kissing was a cousin. Campbell’s daughter, Indica Campbell, sings lead on this one, sounding a lot like Marks.

The two also pay tribute to a more modern reggae band in The Frightnrs, a Jamaica (Queens, New York!) band, with a lusher take on their song, “What Have I Done,” which opens the record. In choosing a song by a band that got its start around 2015, the duo seems to be acknowledging those who grew up with and were influenced by UB40.

The most peculiar song selection is “Stay Another Day,” originally by English boy band East 17 (they were really big in the early ’90s). The original was the sort of power ballad you’d expect from a boy band somewhere between 1988 and 1992—piano, strings, warm synth and a lot of harmonizing. Campbell and Astro kept the strings and the lyrics but changed just about everything else, from the tempo to the delivery and instrumentation. It sounds like an island track now!

There are five original songs on Unprecedented. Campbell is credited as the sole writer on four of the five, but the title track credits both him and Terence Wilson. Two of the songs, “Unprecedented” and “Emperors Wore No Clothes,” appear to take overt digs on Western politics—singing of headless chickens on the former, the name of which may remind American listeners of the former president’s infamous “unpresidented” Tweet. The latter has very allegorical storytelling—but set to a bouncy, happy-go-lucky melody.

“We’ll Never Find Another Love” is a highlight on the album: a poppier love song that retains the reggae and dancehall elements. It’s the second track, so Campbell must have thought the same. The most bass-heavy track on the album, “Happy Includes Everyone,” sounds a little like a slowed-down version of No Doubt’s “Hey Baby,” while perfectly named “Mellow” reminds listeners, “don’t be such an angry fellow.” It’s a perfect coda for anxiety-riddled times.

Follow editor Roman Gokhman at Twitter.com/RomiTheWriter.