The debut album from London native
Estelle, 2004's
The 18th Day, stalled at number 40 on the U.K. chart. Uneven and tentative but not without a handful of major standouts -- like the wistful and animated
"1980," where she displayed her MC'ing chops, and the
Mary J. Blige-worthy slow groove
"Dance with Me" -- it wasn't enough to further her label's support.
Estelle proposed a
John Legend-produced follow-up, which
V2 did not approve, so she relocated to the U.S. and secured a deal with
Atlantic through
Legend's
Homeschool boutique label. Capping a cunningly punitive turn of events orchestrated by a once-shunned artist (i.e., "How ya like them apples?"),
"American Boy" -- a flirty
disco-
funk track featuring
Kanye West and production from
will.i.am, who re-heated the beat from his own
"Impatient" -- took a swift route the top of the U.K.
pop chart. When
Shine was released, just after the chart feat, the song had yet to make as much of a splash in the States; regardless of how the single or the album fares from a commercial standpoint,
Estelle can at least be proud of having made a second full-length that builds upon and far outstrips her first.
Wyclef Jean and
will.i.am produce two songs each, while the remainder is divided between a wide-ranging cast including
Mark Ronson,
Jack Splash, and
Swizz Beats, all of whom produce one track. Through it all,
Estelle is the main attraction and is never upstaged or out of her depth, whether she is trading lines with
Cee-Lo or
Kanye West, switching between singing and rapping on
"More Than Friends," or swapping out blissful
rocksteady reggae for nerved-up glitz-pop. Most impressive is
"So Much Out the Way," where she does the work of at least three vocalists of varying modes, all over a
Wyclef concoction that alternates between tautly snapping
jazz-funk (courtesy of
Louis Johnson's bass from
Grover Washington, Jr.'s
"Hydra") and Wall of Sound
soul (transformed from
Bob Marley's
"So Much Things to Say"). Not many vocalists could possibly navigate all this terrain without losing a beat, but
Estelle has no trouble pulling it off with her versatility and easy-to-like personality. Her second act is ceaselessly enjoyable, one of the finer
R&B albums to be released in 2008. ~ Andy Kellman
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