Ne-Yo the perfect Gentleman

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HAILING from Las Vegas, you can bet Ne-Yo knows a thing or two about showbusiness.

Dressed in a suit sharper than a pointy piece of lemon, the R&B sensation's introduction in the form of chart-topping hit Closer boded well for this release, Year Of The Gentleman.

But despite being stylistically influenced by the Rat Pack, musically this LP doffs it's Panama hat more to the pop-soul of Micheal Jackson than swingers of old.

Either way, with refined modern R&B production over Motown-based soul, there's the distinct whiff of the classic about it - not surprising for man who's penned hits for Rihanna, Beyonce and Mario among others.

Standing out amongst a glut of ballads so polished you can see your face in them are the Prince-meets-Usher Fade Into The Background and forthcoming release Miss Independent.

At times Ne-Yo can be too slick to get a firm grip on, but with hits in his locker of this quality, 2008's Year Of The Gentleman could well should see Ne-Yo nicely into 2009 as well.