YOUR LATEST ALBUMS REVIEW

The Dutchess - Fergie
Well, what can I say about The Dutchess? It is a very experimental album because she fuses different sounds into one package, kind of like Kelis' latest effort but this album doesn't make me think of Kelis. It seems she has taken a mixture of styles from other artists. You can hear some elements from Gwen Stefani's Love.Angel.Music.Baby, Nelly Furtado's Loose and Shawnna's The Block Party. When I heard London Bridge for the first time I thought that in terms of the rap-singing she was channelling herself after Shawnna's Getting Some Head, not to mention that the song concepts are quite identical. But with tracks like the upbeat and poptastic Fergalicious, the edgy sample Here I Come and the electro-fused Get Your Hands Up, she seems to have taken the same approach. With the slow-paced joints like All That I Got (my favourite on the album), Finally and Big Girls Don't Cry, she uses these as the perfect opportunity to showcase her colourful vocal range. The minor R&B tracks and the ballads display a better standard than the rest of the album. However, the reggae-tinged Mary Jane Shoes packs in that Caribbean flavour and to cement this, she collaborates with Rita Marley. The album is decent but yet I can't help but drift in and out throughout, it's as if she hasn't found her niche yet, which is why I call this the experimental album. For me, the album's highlights are All That I Got, Glamorous and maybe one or two others. On first listen, I thought okay, great. But it's only after the second listen you realise the album is not as stellar as it could have been. The songs are okay but not outstanding. If they were, I'd have felt differently. Maybe with her next album, she'll have a more identifiable sound with much more consistency. As a solo debut this was more important than anything.

Rating: 3/5

Truth About Love - Lemar
Musically, Lemar has come a long way and outperformed all of his Fame Academy counterparts who either failed at an attempt of gaining a music career or just faded away into oblivion. I can't really say I was impressed with his debut as huge as it was but he definitely won me over with his sophomore and this new album which is his third is turning me into a fan of his music big time. I love how he has evolved and moulded himself into a more mature sounding artist. I love the soulful songs that he belts out and I know an artist is of high calibre when my mom likes them too. A couple of days ago I posted his latest new single It's Not That Easy which is a taster as to what was expected from the new album because all the songs are very soulful. I love the piano-laid track Caroline, oh of course I would. Caroline is my middle name. So it feels like I'm being serenaded *lol*. Anniversary is an outstanding soul number in which he duets with soultress Joss Stone. Now when these two put this together, they worked up a tabloid frenzy that they were actually dating but truth is, their time spent together was strictly business and nothing more. They are just good friends I must add. Their chemistry on this record is fantastic. They sound really good together and I am amped more than ever to hear a new Joss Stone album. It's been a while that I've come so out of touch as to how much soul this white girl has. My favourite songs are Someone Should Tell You, Be Faithful, When A Heart Is Broken, Anniversary and of course Caroline. This whole album is a pleasant listening experience from start to finish. If you want to hear good organic music without the artificial preservatives, then this is the album to check out.

Rating: 4/5

Everything New - Natalie
I love this album, it's brilliant. Again, there is a wide spectrum of different sounds on the album and she did a great job with all of them. But I do feel guilty that I started listening to it with a closed mind. I didn't think I would like it but this Mexican R&B-pop artist really did good. Hell, if nobody will say it, I will. This CD is waaaay better than the Fergie album, by a long shot! If you're going to be diversified, at least come with it. Natalie did just that. Hell, if Fergie had this material, she'd have been onto a winner. After listening to this, I just put that album aside and started jamming to this instead. The album opens up with the Bun B collaborated R&B track What You Gonna Do, before it's followed up with a string of futuristic pop sounds (My Candy), sweet but pleasant R&B flavours (Pieces, Call Me Up, Slow Dance, Everything New), retro fun (Dance With Me), dance-driven club bangers (If You Only Knew) and melodious ballads (All of My Life, Goin' Crazy). The beats are fun, exciting and refreshing and the album doesn't bore you in the slightest, even the more mellowed down tracks make you sit up and pay attention. She's not the strongest of singers (actually, I think she has a nice voice … shut up!!!) but for the type of music that she puts out, I think her voice implements the music really well. And after listening to the album once, I found myself listening to it again and again.

Rating 4/5

Walk With Me - Jamelia
Well, I thought I may as well review this album since I downloaded and gave it a listen and I'm not feeling the album that much, not saying I hate it. I think it's definitely a grower. The album is a fusion of rock, retro, pop and minor R&B sounds. You don't see her getting any mentions on this blog because musically, I just can't connect with her sound. It's not that I don't like rock or retro/pop music because I do (I love Stephanie McIntosh's new album by the way and I also enjoyed Lily Allen's latest as well). I just don't like it when she attempts it. I don't think it suits her and she was more credible as an artist when she was more R&B and even back then, I still couldn't get into her music. Half of the songs are just cheesy to me, and it seems that ever since she had a lot of success with her more alternative sound, that's the type of direction she has chosen to go into. With the exception of Lemar, I know that British urban music doesn't do that great these days but the input is quite minor and even the R&B-influenced songs are watered down in some way to make them less urban and more commercial-sounding. Well, I do like the songs Get Up Get Out, Got It So Good, Hustle, Go and La La Love, so the album could've been a whole lot worse in my opinion.

Rating 2.5/5