Dream Big-Jazmine Sullivan

Been feeling this girl for a while now, looks like, everyone else is finally beginning to catch on.

Shine-Estelle

 

OK, so the last time we heard from Estelle Swaray, after arriving onto the mainstream scene with the moderate success of 1980 in 2004,  she subsequently disappeared into obscurity after being dropped from her record label as a result of poor record sales of her debut album The 18th Day. Undeterred, Estelle soldiered on, relocated to New York and was signed by John Legend to his Homeschool label where she began work on her second album Shine.

Boasting a formidable array of producers – Mark Ronson, Will.i.am, Wyclef Jean and Swizz Beats, Shine documents the everyday common details of life and relationships. The joy and pain, the rough and smooth…the stresses, the humour…the general complexities of modern day relationships.

Opening with the Will.i.am produced lead single ‘Wait A Minute (Just A Touch)’, Estelle explodes back onto the scene with her unabashed message of ‘no nonsense’ against a backdrop of rousing horn arrangements and scattered synths on this throwback 1920’s track…’wrap it up, I ain’t carryin’ your embryo’… we find the West Londoner bristling with intent as she issues a stern warning to her lover, the dispatch is clear. Estelle is one not to be messed with!

And so the theme is continued on the Lover’s Rock influenced, ‘No Substitute Love’, ‘Bad gyal nah tek this!’ and the dancehall flavoured ‘Magnificent’, ‘I’ll give it to you swiftly if you start to act a fool’.

Lovers Rock, Reggae, ‘60’s soul and hip-hop are the distinct audible influences throughout which draw obvious comparisons to the great Lauryn Hill…an accolade that Estelle is happy to have, however Estelle’s USP is her ‘British-ness’. Accent aside, the British references and London slang which are littered throughout the album are what make Estelle individual….well, that’s if you push the Floetry comparisons aside.

So, one is left asking one question. Shine-appropriately named?  Well, the impressive calibre of producers, the instant commercial appeal of the Kanye West featured American Boy and the overall battle against record-label adversity that Estelle has gallantly managed to jostle her way through would suggest that it is indeed time for Estelle to shine.

However, assessing the album purely on content alone, one does struggle to see any major global success and longevity past the excellent American Boy. Undeniably, there are some great songs on Shine, the Lover’s Rock inspired ‘Come Over’, the soulful sounding duet with John legend, ‘You Are’ and the Doo-Wop sounding ‘In the Rain’ to name but a few…but, as much as it pains me to say it, Shine does at times sound quite bland and a bit ‘samey-samey’ as one track merges into another. However, the songs that are good are really good and ultimately save this album from being more than mediocre.

Overall, a good effort from Estelle, an indication that there is much more to come from this talented artist.

 

 

 

 

 

A&E-Goldfrapp

Love the organic feel to this song…beautiful!

Gettin Up – Q-Tip

My tune of the moment is Gettin Up by Q-Tip(formerly of A Tribe Called Quest).

This song is COLOSSAL!!!!! Seriously, it creates a sensation of inner-warmth, a feeling often associated with joy and carefree abandonment…a song that takes you back to the era of good old fashioned, authentic hip-hop…a thing  the scene has been lacking for far too long now.

Check out this link and let me know your thoughts!

 

www.myspace.com/qtip