Album Results
Album Reviews
The music industry isn't exactly known for its patience. A flop single, an underperforming album, or a lacklustre comeback is sometimes all it takes for an artist to be dropped and never heard of again. Birmingham born Jamelia has had all three during her short four-year career (three of her seven singles have failed to reach the UK Top 30 and debut album Drama sank without trace) and yet somehow she's still here. The faith invested in her by her record company is admirable in this fickle day and age but with her second album, Thank You, it's been totally justified. Taking two years off to raise her daughter, the MOBO Award winner has obviously used the time well, raising her game to produce a record bursting with potential singles. Whilst partly influenced by the US production-sound of the moment, Thank You, unlike countless other UK R&B albums, never forgets its roots either. So the Neptunes-alike production of the title track, a female empowement anthem about domestic violence, sits comfortably alongside "Off Da Endz," a frenetic grime duet with So Solid Crew's Asher D. As does "Cutie," featuring a Kanye West-style helium-voiced chorus, next to the grinding, dirty basslines of "Taxi," written by Alisha's Attic's Karen Poole. Indeed, the best track here is quintessentially British and a masterstroke in fusing R&B with the modern rock establishment. "See It In A Boy's Eyes," written by Coldplay's Chris Martin, is a beautiful, slinky piano-driven ode to understanding the opposite sex. It's one of the best things Martin has done but it's also the most blatant indication of how Jamelia has matured as an artist. She's just as at ease when she moves outside her comfort zone. "Superstar," the single that rescued her career, was originally a hit for Denmark's Christine Milton, but Jamelia makes it her own to produce a simple but effective pop classic. Whilst final track "Antidote," a haunting, quirky ballad smothered in a glossy, electronica production, promises a bolder, different direction for the future. Overall, Thank You is a confident, imaginative record which oozes with personality and should be a lesson to record companies everywhere that patience can sometimes reap the biggest rewards. ~ Jon O'Brien, All Music Guide
Track Listing
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Never Miss A Beat Kaiser Chiefs |
| The kings of chorus repetition strike again with this good intentioned look at the state of our youth and the failure of the education system. Don't panic! As serious as this may sound, these are neither deep lyrics nor they reflect any worrying shift towards U2-like social analysis. "Never Miss A Beat" does not desperately try to be as popular as "Ruby", which makes it more enjoyable, and although it cannot compare with the Chiefs' best moments (namely, their debut singles) many want to see some sort of getting back to form, fuelled by their collaboration with new Britpop king, Mark Ronson, who was called to produce their forthcoming effort. His Midas touch is expected to rescue the band from the typical disappointing effect of that difficult second album. This new single, though, lacks of the shock and awe effect a different sound direction would have provided; instead Ronson respectfully brings the band back to the familiar sonic frame where Kaiser Chiefs used to feel at home, but a few surprises may be unveiled when "Off With Their Heads" gets a release. | |
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