Arc of a Diver by Steve Winwood

Arc of a Diver, Steve Winwood's second solo album, came out on Island in 1980, and it's the record where the man who'd powered the Spencer Davis Group, Traffic and Blind Faith finally worked out how to go it alone. Literally alone: Winwood played every instrument on it himself, stacking keyboards, synths, guitars and that soulful high tenor into a one-man band that never sounds lonely.

The sound is blue-eyed soul dressed for a new decade, with synth-pop sheen and soft-rock polish wrapped around grooves that still remember where they came from. "While You See a Chance" led the way on a burbling synth hook and became his first hit under his own name, and the title track glides along in a warm haze. The album climbed to number 3 on the Billboard 200 and proved Winwood could sell records by himself. Tony Wright's cover art took its cue from Matisse's Jazz, the Icarus plate in particular.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.