First Word Records celebrate their 20th year with a cracking compilation put together by label founder, Gilla. Designed to champion UK soul, both past and present, the album is divided into two. The opening side, titled Love, dusts off dancefloor delights that date from the mid-1980s to the early 90s. The oldest track on offer comes from Manchester’s 52nd Street. Tell Me marked their departure from local institution Factory Records, to the Virgin-owned 10. Working with US producer, Nick Martinelli, here they sound very polished and a lot like Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis’ S.O.S. Band.

1989 supplies a couple of synth and drum-machine driven cuts. Robyn’s Searching is TR-808, bass heavy speaker rattling stuff. Dazzle were sisters, Paulette and Claudette Patterson, and their Dazzle You was produced by Andy Sojka, of pioneering Brit-Funkers, Atmosfear. Popping with programmed Latin percussion they represent the “indie” end of acts like Loose Ends and in the U.S., Joyce Sims, who topped not just the R&B but pop charts. Back then, these sort of sounds, soul  packing a loved-up vibe, were staples in Balearic Beat and Acid House backrooms. Providing a blissed-out breather, away from the main floor mayhem and pumping 4 / 4s.

Summery and shuffling Ruth Joy’s Feel is from 1991. Ruth first found fame as a member of KRUSH, the Sheffield collective responsible for the early UK house hit, House Arrest. Proving my previous point, Boy’s Own Fanzine – “acid house’s village newspaper” – charted another of her solo singles, Soul Power. Released the following year, Jay Dee’s Simple Solution is an opulently orchestrated, post-Soul II Soul sing-along, reminiscent of smashes by stars such as Gabrielle.

Purpose is the name of the LP’s second side, which features complimentary recordings from the 21st Century. Omar’s Ghana Emotion is loose, laid-back jazz. A kinda brass-y rumba. Its lyrics like a commercial for the country’s tourist board. Omar painting his parents’ homeland as a tropical Eden. A plentiful, peaceful paradise. Mancunian duo, Children Of Zeus’ Hard Work is rumbling lovers rock, with big dubwise drops. The guitar switching between gentle wah-wah and a searing Isley Brothers-esque solo. Demae’s Basic Love and Gareth Donkin’s Autumn Breeze are both shorts. The former, from the South London artist’s LP, Life Works Out… Usually, is super stripped back, with a melody which resembles Shugie Otis’ Strawberry Letter 23. The latter’s boom-bap beat and harmonies recall D’Angelo’s Brown Sugar, and post-Revolution, post-NPG Prince.

Some of these new productions rejoice in being retro, and bring the collection full circle. Pasadena’s XL Middleton, for example, turns Lynda Dawn’s Roses into authentic `80s, Mtume-like electro-soul bump and grind. A modern stepper. Squelching synthetically, Passport, the work of Cardiff’s Che Ahmed, in his Metabeats guise, possesses a robotic rhythm and a groovy Zapp-like vocoder.

Love And Purpose is out now on First Word Records. It makes for a very cool companion to Sam Don’s recent Just A Touch comp.