It’ll be unfortunate if lovers of good soul music bypass this album simply because they’re not into house music. Somehow that term misleads a majority of listeners to mistakenly lump trance, techno and progressive spin-offs into what house music is NOT. It’s much more complex, luckily. With guest appearances by Roy Davis Jr., N’Dea Davenport, Tortured Soul, Lisa Shaw, Tim Fuller and others, trust that this LP shouldn’t be easily pigeonholed.

There’s the broken beat funk of “Stay,” featuring Tim Fuller, to give your subwoofers a workout, while the title track, in spoken-word poetry, incorporates a bit of Afrobeat energy. Tortured Soul bring it with their trademark organic, funkified disco on “Lying to You,” taking you right back onto the dancefloor of Studio 54. But then, of course, there’s the undeniable, undiluted house music, where “Here I Am” featuring Lisa Shaw and “Don’t Nobody” featuring N’Dea Davenport showcase that sweet Fred Everything sound. The magic continues right to the end, as Fred breaks it down with “Mercyless” featuring Wayne Tennant. (Marlon Regis)

Fred Everything “Lost (Together)”