Res: Black. Girl. Rocks.
Tuesday, July 29th, 2008
If there’s any justice in the music industry–no, wait a minute, if people have any taste whatsoever–no, that doesn’t quite work, either… Okay. Here’s the deal. The first album by Res, 2001’s How I Do, was as catchy and listenable as it was impossible to fit into some little box. As is so often the case with music that’s written for its own sake rather than for a target demographic, one gets the feeling that MCA hoped the album would just go away. The singles–aside from the club hit “They-Say Vision”–were poorly chosen, and the album under-promoted.
And it’s a shame that it was. Parts of the album had touches of the kind of quirky soul that Nellie Furtado rode to the top of the charts, only done better. “They-Say” and “Golden Boys” were propulsive and funky, with a sorta sneaky rock heartbeat, while “Sittin’ Back” sounded like a streetwise cousin to William DeVaughn’s “Be Thankful for What You’ve Got.” “Say It Anyway” (the obligatory hidden track) is, meantime, an unabashed, fun rocker. So it may have been that Res was too black for white radio, and too white for black radio.
Now, seven years later, she’s back, and screw the sophomore slump. (more…)