Hardage is a downbeat producer whom I believe is based in Rome. The latest CD, "The Five Doubts of Hardage" includes two tracks recorded with Mark King. The first one I heard, entitled "The Genius of Love", features Mark on vocals only, and is pleasant but unremarkable. I just heard the other one, "The Sweetest Pain", last week. Mark sings and plays bass on this tune.
To my ears, it sounds something like a "Pursuit of Accidents" or "Standing in the Light" era Level 42 track, but immediately evolved to 2009 production standards. It also has a bass solo, and in my opinion the best-ever Mark King solo that is not a technical trick-fest. He actually plays a melodic solo over (simple) changes, and it really works for the track. My ears tell me that he used one of his Alembics for this track; it does not sound like a Kingbass to me.
I wish the latest Level 42 album had a few tracks on it that sounded like this Hardage track. I would have liked it a lot more.
I found the track on iTunes. It also appears to be available on Rhapsody and eMusic, but not on Amazon except as an import hard copy CD.
If you are a Level 42 or Mark King fan, I recommend this track.
Edit:
here's the track on Youtube.
