The Distance plays to this former American Idol winner’s strengths, matching his smooth and sturdy voice with quality tunes. Hicks’ vocals blend the R&B/pop sound of Michael McDonald with a hint of country twang. Surrounded by elegant pianos and purring organs, he brings a stylishly retro touch to “What’s Right Is Right,” “New Found Freedom,” and a cover of Bobby Womack’s “Woman’s Gotta Have It” (the latter a duet with fellow Idol alumnus Elliott Yamin). He stretches out with the swampy “Seven Mile Breakdown” and the Nick Lowe-penned blues-rocker “I Live On a Battlefield.” In “Nineteen,” he strikes a bittersweet note in his account of a football star turned war hero. There are a few stumbles — the rascally persona Hicks adopts for “Wedding Day Blues,” for instance, isn’t quite believable, but he’s much better with unabashedly romantic tunes like “Once Upon a Lover.” Producer Simon Climie applies the same well-buffed production to these tracks that he gave to McDonald’s recent comeback albums. The Distance keeps Hicks in the running as a warm-hearted neo-soul man.