CD reviewS: 'Gold Coast' shines with brilliant vocals, lyrics of new artist

Cop it or drop it

Ratings
4 stars = cop it
3 stars = play it
2 stars = ok it
1 star = drop it

 

"Gold Coast"
Rhian Benson
DKG Music
****

As the saying goes, "All that glitters ain't gold." Rarely is it that the opposite is true, but "Gold Coast," the debut full-length album of Ghanaian born, Rhian Benson, does just that -- shines with the brilliance of the metallic element, glittering with smoothed out jazzy beats and inspiring lyrics.

If it were up to Benson's parents -- African father and Welsh mother -- she would have been a successful banker with an envied Harvard education. But the destiny of this new talent led her to pursue her gift and passion for music.

Benson's voice is reminiscent of Nigerian born, Sade, evoking a soulful essence that is both soothing and rich with layers. The single, "Say How I Feel," co-produced with renown wunderkind, James Poyser (D'angelo, Lauryn Hill) and China Danforth, describes a scenario where Benson is clubbing with her girls, when she sees an attractive brother (played by the model, Tyson Beckford in the music video). But he never seems to realize that she has it bad for him.

Other gems on the album include the proverbial "Words Hurt Too" and "Shake it Away," the sweet "Young Girl." "Spirit," a song that Benson released as an LP was raved about in Billboard.

The ethereal song features Benson singing in her native Ghanaian and Ashanti tongues. If her first offering is any indication, the music market will be booming for Benson for years to come.
-- Monica Levette Clark

 

"Out of Season"
Beth Gibbons, Rustin Man
Sanctuary Records
****

Beth Gibbons (Portishead) says she is into "the philosophy of music... just the sound of a word, to try to express them in the best way, so that the emotion is totally revealed."

So when she says "pleasures smoulder inside," a verse in the song, "Drake," off of her new album "Out of Season" with friend, Rustin Man, you feel it tremble through your insides.

Conceived after Gibbons' last tour with her band, and a single conversation with Man, "Out of Season," offers genuinely artistic songs that are equally exceptional in music and lyrics. "Tom the Model," and "Romance" are rustically timeless creations where Gibbon's eerie voice meshes with haunting string arrangements and acoustic bass.

The album is clearly one for the autumn and winter seasons, where nature decays and everything goes into hybernation.

"It is that feeling of decay when the values you put on things have no relevance anymore because the world's moved to another place," explained Man (aka Paul Webb), who is the bassist of the band Talk Talk.

"Mysteries," opens the album, introducing listeners and fans of Portishead to a softer and less morbid side of the band's frontwoman.
-- Monica Levette Clark