Does the world need another cute, white duo singing R & B-flavoured pop? "We don't feel like we're trying to imitate black music. We're two white guys who love black music, naturally, but we're not trying to copy it, we just want to make music that relects our influences," Antoine, one half of the Montreal duo, Sky. Those influences include everything from the Beatles to old rock, hip hop, and punk. In fact, what makes Sky's debut disc, Piece of Paradise, stand out from the musical crowd is the range of styles that run through its 10 tracks. There's the pure pop of first single, "Some Kinda Wonderful," "Love Song" and "America" and the hip hop-tinged "Powder," the smooth dance grooves of "Push" and "You And I" and the dreamy soul ballads "All I Want" and "I Will Survive." Sky (Antoine, who handles bass, programming and background vocals and James, who sings lead, and plays piano and guitar) is, as James notes, unabashedly, a "studio band." "We don't come from yor typical musician's background; we haven't played the bars or anything, we met and started in the studio," he says. But they're no lame pretty-boy studio "creation." Both, are accomplished, versatile musicians who sing like Harlem choir boys and Piece of Paradise features "real" piano, bass and guitar, giving the album an organic feel. However, both know their way around a studio, too, and put a premium on song arrangement and production. "We're both perfectionists and when we started making demos we wanted to make them sound finished and professional," adds James. For Piece of Paradise they worked with internationally renowned producers Peter Mokran (Maxwell, R. Kelly, Michael Jackson) and Euro-Syndicate Productions, whose members include The Berman Brothers (Hanson, Real McCoy), Jeff Coplan and Joe West. Hence, the album's full, rich sound and funky sheen. It is worth noting that the camera loves them, which doesn't hurt, of course, and there's been a steady buzz in the last couple of months about Sky's potential for international hunkdom. The fact that they're nice guys is a cool bonus. As Antoine notes, "we're just happy to be doing this and whatever happens, happens."