Cat Stevens Yusuf - Tell 'Em I'm Gone

Tell ‘Em I’m Gone is the fourteenth studio album by British singer-songwriter Yusuf (Cat Stevens), released in October 2014 by Legacy Records.

Cat Stevens quietly retired from his career as a pop star after the release of 1978's Back To Earth to pursue a spiritual path. Stevens became a devout Muslim and adopted the name Yusuf Islam, quietly making spiritually oriented recordings but avoiding the mainstream. However, Yusuf has been quietly inching back into the public eye since 2006 and set out on an extensive concert tour.

Tell 'Em I'm Gone finds Yusuf in part paying homage to the blues and R&B sounds that inspired him as a young man while also looking back to the canny mixture of pop and folk that informed his best work of the '70s. For the most part, Tell 'Em I'm Gone works best when Yusuf follows the latter path; while he remains a committed and canny vocalist, his voice has never boasted the force or grit of an R&B shouter, and he seems far more comfortable with the gentle fable of "Cat & The Dog Trap" or the parables of "I Was Raised In Babylon" than the Lead Belly-influenced title cut or the blues-shot reworkings of "You Are My Sunshine" and "Big Boss Man".

Tell 'Em I'm Gone also seems curiously long on covers, especially since Yusuf has a great deal to say in his originals; "Editing Floor Blues" is an autobiographical piece that ponders the ebb and flow of fame, "Gold Digger" rails against corruption in the South African mining trade, and "Doors" quietly but eloquently deals with his spiritual beliefs.

Tell 'Em I'm Gone confirms that Yusuf still has the talent and passion that made him a star as Cat Stevens.

This LP record is on 180 gram vinyl housed in a gatefold sleeve, pressed in the US.