Beres' 'Never Ending' journey continues Friday - Two singles herald 14-track album

On Friday, October 12, the master of romance, Beres Hammond, will release his new album, Never Ending. The 14-track set contains another piece of the heart and soul of the man who has voiced classics such as Double Trouble, Rockaway and Putting up a Resistance.

Speaking with The Gleaner recently, the always humble Hammond said that he created this album the same way he did all his others. "When I go into the studio, I just express what is inside of me. I do it for the public. I sing the songs, you feel the songs," Hammond said.

Hammond has a reputation as a perfectionist, and Never Ending is in that vein.

"I spend so much time doing what I'm doing, I make sure it comes close to perfection," he said. Hammond, who is quick to deflect praise, said his team is among the best anywhere. For this album, he collaborated with studio partners Willie Lindo, Kirk Bennett, Handel Tucker, Errol 'Flabba' Carter, Leroy and David Heywood (aka Mafia and Fluxy), Winston 'Bopee' Bowen, Dean Fraser and Robbie Lyn, among others.

The album's first single, I'm Alive, is described as a modern roots track, with Hammond singing praises for life's simple joys. The second single, Land of Sunshine, an ode to Jamaica, is a classic Hammond song with smooth harmonies, jazzy instrumentation, and heartfelt lyrics. "That's the Jamaican Beres," he said with a laugh.

As with all his works, the rhythm leads him, and the end result has been Hammond amassing a special kind of treasure. "The wealth I have is me extending myself to people in the form of songs. That is my wealth," he said.