(RUN)

It's no secret to those who know me (and those who read a few of my reviews) that in general, I'm disgusted by a lot of the R&B on the market nowadays. With this in mind, I was in HMV the other day looking for a change of pace from my usual hip-hop fare and decided to give the Melky Sedeck album a listen.

Melky and Sedeck are the younger sister and brother respectively of Wyclef Jean. Based on the last few singles Wyclef had put his name to, I was doubly sceptical about this album. Boy was I in for a surprise.

Music quite obviously runs very strong in the bloodline of the Jean family. The album is intensely musical thanks to Sedeck's production, and Melky has a beautiful voice, which she can use to convey a wide range of emotions, from anger to frustration to weakness to love. This results in a great variety of musical flavours on this album, something which is lacking with a lot of artists.

The first comparison that came to mind when I seriously listened to this album is Groove Theory. Not only is the group make up similar, but having a strong voiced singer (Amel Larrieux vs. Melky) over hip-hop influenced beats (by Bryce Wilson vs. Sedeck). Another thing that I really enjoy about this album is that although the rhythms have their hip-hop influence, it is done with a style all their own. No jacking a hip-hop beat to sing over for these too.

My one major complaint about this album isn't even really a complaint. It's more something I noticed as a curiosity. Many of the lyricsincorporate famous lines from other songs, (eg. "Say Say Say What you want." on "Diva.") On the whole though, the positives of this album far outweigh the negatives.

Tracks to check for: "Shake It," (the only song with a guest artist) "Light My Fire," "Mi Amor," (with an ILL violin riff) "Raw," "High Heel Shoes" and "Diva." There won't be too much skipping on this CD anyway, as each song has it's own strengths. I strongly recommend that anyone with ICQ who wants to hear a couple of tracks hit me up. My number is 7151994 and I'm on all day most days (being a computer professional and all).

The final verdict: Definitely a worthwile purchase. Good for a change of pace for the hip-hop heads, and should be well appreciated by R&B fans. As a matter of fact, this album should be appreciated by all those who appreciate creative, musical albums.

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