| Estelle - Shine |
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| Written by Steve McPherson | |
| Friday, May 9, 2008 at 09:18 AM | |
 Estelle - Shine Shine Homeschool/Atlantic Records Estelle's MySpace Site Estelle's Official Site Without getting deeply involved with any of them, I've had a couple of musical one-night-stands over the past few years that have led me to realize I'm through feeling guilty about guilty pleasures. Life's too short. Beyonce, Kelly Clarkson, Justin Timberlake; I don't give a shit what it says or doesn't say about the tattered remnants of my indie cred that I like them. Or that I used to lip synch along to Cheap Trick's "The Flame" and Billy Joel's "We Didn't Start the Fire." And that was just last week. Stuff like the aforementioned lives and die on the foundations of great pop music: melody, hook, driving rhythm, gloss, and fantasy. It's a cutthroat business, making hits. And Estelle—who's a very different but no less soulful British R&B diva than Amy Winehouse—is just absolutely flat-out killing it on her Homeschool Records debut, Shine. Instead of the dusty, retro vibe of the Dap Kings, Estelle has captured some of the vibe of Lauryn Hill's debut and harnessed the diamond-encrusted hammers of producers like Will.I.Am, Wyclef Jean, Cee-Lo, John Legend, and Swizz Beatz to forge her sound. If you're not into mainstream hip-hop and R&B (or at least as represented by the likes of Kanye West, who appears on the album's lead single, "American Boy"), you'll probably approach the album with some trepidation, and I wouldn't blame you. It's all right; but come closer and touch it. The payoff of opener "Wait A Minute (Just A Touch)" is immediate, and it shows that Will.I.Am is good for more than just songs about humps. "Wait A Minute" fuses a slinky, vaudeville show-style sample directly onto a driving beat that's positively gaping with holes. This song is all about the canny way the pieces fall in and out of each other, while Estelle's golden pipes spin a surprisingly chaste story of seduction. "Baby boy, let's make it special," she coos in the chorus, "I'mma have it my way / right now you get just one touch," before slipping into an East London accent for the rapped verses. "Baby, got to let you know," she says, "if and when the time comes for me and you, / sex is slow. Wrap it up / 'cause I ain't carryin' your embryo. / You're staring at a woman / that would slap yo' ass to the flo'." It's equal parts arresting and hilariously forward, and her wry sense of humor extends to the rest of the album. In "American Boy," she sings all about the places she hasn't yet gotten to go in the States. "I never been to Brooklyn and I'd like to see what's good. / Dressed in all your fancy clothes, / sneakers looking fresh to def / I'm lovin' those shell toes," she lilts with a mix of naivete and worldliness. Will.I.Am's beat for "American Boy" is massively electro—the kind of thumping four-on-the-floor grind that'll find a home on dancefloors immediately, if not sooner. Sonically, the record encompasses splashes of reggae and dub on tracks like "Magnificent" and "So Much Out The Way" (a track that shows off the brassy, funky side of Wyclef Jean that hasn't been seen much since "We Trying to Stay Alive on 1997's The Carnival), old school doo-wop balladeering on "More Than Friends," glitzy soul on "In The Rain," and Motown groove on "Pretty Please (Love Me)," which features Cee-Lo's inimitably gravelly falsetto. Throughout, Estelle's voice curls around the melodies liquidly, and even the songs that don't seem to stand out at first turn slowly to winners as she works her way around them. Can a record like this endure, though, and stand up in the long run? Probably not; those stainless steel beats and dizzying hooks have a way of tarnishing with repeated listens, but that's all part of the thrill of something designed to pull you in. You might not be in it for the long haul, but you're in for a hell of a ride. My advice? Forget the guilt and just embrace the glamor and seductive power of something built this well from such sturdy and shiny parts. |
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| Last Updated: Friday, May 9, 2008 at 09:20 AM |
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