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Chrisette Michele - Epiphany
| Slantmagazine |
| On the heels of her Grammy win for Best Urban/Alternative Performance for "Be OK" earlier this year, Chrisette Michele returns with a hit single poised for even more Academy accolades. The title track from the New York native's sophomore effort, Epiphany, sports a sleek, Massive Attack-style drum loop that frightens Wendy Williams, but which hasn't stopped the infamous radio jock from playing the cut ad nauseam on her show every day. The entire album is executive produced by Ne-Yo, which gives Epiphany both a more modern R&B edge as well as a more unified sound than Michele's 2007 debut—which could be good or bad, depending on how you look at it. To wit: Between an opening salvo for independence and the album's final stretch—comprised of edgy midtempo tracks like "On My Own," which features a measured 4/4 beat and a melody that simply drifts, and the old-school soul throwback "Mr. Right"—is a gooey center filled with middling soundalike slow jams such as the Ne-Yo duet "What You Do" and the aptly titled "Another One." The exceptions are "Notebook," in which Michele at turns displays sultry lows that recall Toni Braxton and alpine highs that evoke Minnie Riperton, and "Blame It on Me," a bona fide, good ol' fashioned love song in which she delivers an emotive vocal turn that rivals Mary J. Blige's finest....full text |
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| Rollingstones |
| Subtitled: "50 Ways to Tell Your Lover You're Leaving." This Grammy-winning R&B songstress kicks off her second album with two words: "It's over." And just in case her ex didn't catch that, she spends the next 11 tracks telling him "it's not working anymore," "just say goodbye" and, simply, "I'm done." But as pianos flutter and faint bass lines pulse in these sultry mid-tempo gentlemen's ballads — written and co-produced by Ne-Yo, who also guests on "What You Do" — she makes those kiss-offs go down easy: You can imagine her lighting aromatherapy candles and cooing in her best Billie Holiday voice, Get the hell out of my house. With breakup songs this romantic, who needs love?...full text |
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| Thekoalition |
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And then it comes to me like an epiphany” - Chrisette Michele: Epiphany There was no place to go but up for Chrisette Michele Payne. After breathtaking cameos on albums by two of hip hop’s greatest (Jay-Z’s Kingdom Come and Nas‘ Hip Hop is Dead), Chrisette Michele released her hopeful debut, I Am, to much critical acclaim. 2008 saw only two cameos by Michele, on The Game’s “Let Us Live” and The Roots’ “Rising Up”, as she was in the studio working on her followup album. Enter Epiphany, as Chrisette Michele touches on various aspects of relationships while at the same time showing the numerous emotional layers that women possess. The album begins with slow knocks and the summer sounds of Chrisette’s first single, “Epiphany”. Chrisette Michele breezes through the pastoral-influenced production, crooning “I’m leaving” to a cheating lover that she feels has deprived her living her life. The magnificent ballad, “Notebook”, should undoubtedly be the songstress’ next single as she spills her heart about a crush as she can’t find the strength to tell him how she feels so she simply “writes in her notebook, X’s and O’s, beside his name”. “Blame It on Me” showcases Ms. Michele and arguably her best vocal performance on the album as she takes the blame and responsibility for a failed relationship even though the two tried their hardest to make it work. Chrisette’s sultry vocals personalize the push and pull tug-of-war that relationships can become on “All I Ever Think About”, one of the album’s standout cuts....full text |
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