‘I Can’t Help It’ – a Michael Jackson tune from Off the Wall penned by the great Stevie Wonder – has been covered aplenty. In fact, it is a particular favourite within the London soul scene. Yet there has not been a cover quite like this.

Keyboardist and producer Mike Blankenship has provided a strikingly modern, dreamily produced rendition – piano-driven with jazzy and hip-hop inflection. The track also segues into ‘Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground)’, ‘Human Nature’, and ‘Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’. The success of the track is sealed by Blankenship’s collaboration with Sy Smith who lays down characteristically cool and sexy vocals.

In her recent interview with The House That Soul Built, Smith spoke of the subtle, sensual power of the likes of Deniece Williams, Patrice Rushen, and Minnie Riperton. Smith has this power too, particularly on her softest vocalisations here when the production is at its most minimalist. Her delivery of the chorus (‘I can’t help it if I wanted to‘) is almost whimsical – as if mocking the thought that she could possibly resist the amorous desire which the lyric conveys.