Sina: Sina (Huh!/Universal)

They say good things come to those who wait . . . but it's unlikely Sina (as in “sweet Sina's in the front” in OMC's How Bizarre) thought she'd have to wait two decades for her solo album to come out.

But back in the late Nineties with her songs produced by Alan Jansson (who'd worked his magic on How Bizarre, Sisters Underground's In the Neighbourhood among many other hits) she was ready to break out and her first-up single Don't Be Shy went to number two on the charts, Mercury Records in the US had beaten out Motown for her attention, the second single Boy featured in the movie What Became of the Broken Hearted (the sequel to Once Were Warriors) and . . .

Then nothing.

In a tale all too familiar, record company machinations sidelined her album and after a token cover of the Supremes' Where Did Our Love Go? out of frustration and disillusionment she called it quits to spend time with her family (she was the partner of the late Richie Pickett).

She wrote a few songs for others but sweet Sina's debut solo album seemed lost.

Until Huh! owner Simon Grigg decided enough was enough and approached Universal to get the damn thing out of the vaults and into ears.

With the Jansson magic on production and as a co-writer, the young Manuel Bundy on turntables throughout, Sina's sweet voice and these smart pop songs, this long overdue debut album rides a crest and although it has echoes of that classic period in South Auckland hip-hop (Don't Be Shy especially, spot that chord sequence), it polishes up as something quite contemporary because, ironically, the best pop (as here) is timeless and these songs are irrepressibly catchy.

It's a further irony that to resurrect her career Aaradhna went back to Motown and doo-wop soul for her terrific Treble and Reverb album and made those influences sound fresh.

That this pop album comes from a time closer to Sixties pop (get those “ooh-la-la” backing vocals on A Love That's True) yet manages to sound radio friendly in an urban R'n'B arena confirms just how much Black American soul music is part of the bedrock in Aotearoa New Zealand music, especially among Maori and Pasifika artists.

And Higher Than High sounds like it has been beamed in from a slightlydelic sequel to the pivotal Proud compilation all those decades ago as Sina speak-sings her way through in the manner of the late Pauly Fuemana/OMC.

And the final track Beautiful Day (with horns, guitar and that speak-sing) is the sister of Pauly's hit and touches a more domestic, backyard barbecue and beach days idea of Kiwi happiness, despite its obvious American and Pacific Island references.

It's almost better that this album didn't come out at the time because it would have invited to many comparisons, and perhaps it even does now . . . but like Pauly's wonderful but often overlooked Land of Plenty much of this celebrates life in this place where we are uniquely blessed in many ways.

Yes, that guitar sound from How Bizarre is evident in a number of places here (check the lovely You Make It Look So Easy), but frankly that's not a bad thing. It propelled that song to great heights while also keeping it grounded and serves a similar purpose here.

In places (Together Forever) this doesn't quite rise as you might hope but other songs among the 10 here touch such a familiar place (the percussion-driven All The Way sounds like a classic pre-Beatles mainstream pop melody with more adult lyrics) they just get their hooks into you.

This album might have been a long time in the telling (who knew it even existed?) but it has all the upbeat warmth of a soundtrack to summer.

This summer, any summer, the endless summer.