Album Reviews |

Shontelle



Shontelligence 8 ( 2008 )
T-Shirt / Battle Cry / Superwoman / Cold Cold Summer / Roll It / Life Is Not An Easy Road / Focus Pon Me / Plastic People / I Crave You / Ghetto Lullabye / Flesh And Bone / Naughty / Stuck With Each Other

A brilliant production, this. Pay attention to the backing tracks, they are really tight and Shontelle's vocals are very strong. R'n'B is a crowded genre, yet Shontelle deserves to be among the prime movers if she can keep up such a standard as this. The album has a rubbish name though, doesn't it? 'Shontelligence'? Whatever you say, dear. Such things are beneath the true music lover though and when top-ten UK hit 'T-Shirt' kicks off 'Shontelligence' you realise that on the surface this is stuff similar to so much else that's out there. Dig a little deeper though and this turns out to be a rounded album full of moods, modern pop at its best really and twice as good at least as Rhianna. Several tracks here are good enough to be huge hits, among them 'Superwoman' - tried and tested subject matter perhaps, yet Shontelle's voice is enough to seperate this from the unduly processed likes of the typical singer in this genre. She's very good, basically. A little diversity enough to keep you interested too, 'Focus Pon Me' is a tune sampling indian sitars and the 'left right left right' thumping section could see this be massive hit the world over.

I'll finish this in a minute, yet let me throw a couple of things as people who primarily listen to rock music. Listen to 'Cold Hot Summer' and you've got to admit that this sultry soul number is genuinely sang with utter class. If you like out and out pop, a good half of 'Shontelligence' qualifies, yet it's not base or lowest common denominator. A dance classic will follow a slice of soul, then harder r'n'b etc, right through to the album closer, 'Stuck With Each Other' which features Akon. Another potential hit? Why yes, even with Akon's very annoying voice all over parts of it like an particularly nasty plague.

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