Craig David’s comeback started with a dinner date late in 2012. He was living in Miami, increasingly cut off from the industry he’d shaken up 12 years earlier, with the release of 6x platinum No.1 debut Born To Do It.

David was making music and writing for other artists but his last record, 2010’s Signed Sealed Delivered, comprised mostly covers, peaked at No.13 and has shifted 34,930 copies. Memories of Craig David the hitmaker were fading fast.

His manager, Colin ...