- Label
- Polydor
- Release date
- 3rd September 2007
- Genre
- Reggae/folk
- Buy this album
- Order CD
Astonishing vocals, brilliant musicianship – and some pretty boring songs
Pop stars should push themselves into unusual boxes every now and again. Girls Aloud do it all the time, by releasing songs which sound like psychic explosions in a record shop. So Ayo, a singer possessed of a voice which would make archangels jealous, might want to try turning her hand to something which shows off her enormous talent a little better. This album of reggae-tinged ballads, with light flourishes of soulful folk, seems designed to tick all of the boxes on the sheet marked "background music" but fails to dazzle with originality.
While there is a degree of inventiveness here – particularly in the slight discordance between the bossanova percussion and instrumentation and the folky acoustics – there’s not a lot to set it apart from, say, a Zero 7 record, apart from Ayo’s gorgeous vocals, which flit between childish breathiness to deeper, soulful crooning. In no way is this a bad album – quite the opposite, in fact. But it’s hard to shake the feeling that Ayo is squandering talent on the rocks of mediocrity.
More to try: Joy Denalane: Born & Raised Zero 7: Simple Things Nouvelle Vague: Bande a Part
