By snoadmin
Priscilla Renea’s debut is a corny, but unforgettable mix of tweeny bop and hip-hop music.
Her album, “Jukebox,” could easily be confused with a tweeny pop song. The first single “Dollhouse,” has almost all the elements of a cheesy teenage pop song. It includes blaring techno sounds and cute vocals. Even the chorus lyrics, “I ain’t a doll, this ain’t no dollhouse,” sound like a fluffy Miley Cyrus ballad.
Despite the silly theatrics, this R&B singer from Florida is not Miley Cyrus. In fact, she’s a fresh new artist rising up the ranks with this impressive album release. The thumping beats in her songs hook listeners in with a delicious mix of electronic sounds, guitars and bumping bass notes.
Take the second track on the album, “Lovesick,” an R&B song with hip-hop beats. The piano chords perfectly suit her light soprano voice. She has a lovable sense of humor when she sings “I used to tell you the stories of my childhood/You never, ever believed me/But I was left in a trailer on a bed full of paper/Okay, well maybe I’m lying.”
A few of Renea’s pop and R&B songs sound a little too similar. For instance, the songs “Pretty Girl” and “Baby Please” use nearly the same instruments. The soft acoustic guitars and the pretty keyboards have the same redundant sound as the numerous boring Disney songs.
However, all of Renea’s bouncy staccato songs are a terrific thrill. The song “Rockabye Baby” is an edgy mix of staccato bass notes that sound like tubas and whiny organs that could have come from an old AM radio show.
The lyrics are raw, tough words about the problems of teenage pregnancy. She’s as grumpy as the firebrand Nellie McKay when she sings “So now it’s Mary and Georgie sittin’ in a tree/with a B-A-B-Y, baby/I guess they learned a lesson about a-really sexin’/why they shouldn’t be.”
There are many wonderful songs to lighten the mood thereafter. “Bacon ‘n Eggs” is a fun jam about how Renea will do anything to make her man stay, even if she has to cook up some bacon and eggs. “Mr. Workabee” opens with the sweet chirp of a worker bee general shouting, “Worker bees, assemble!”
The only song that is a small let-down is “Stonegarden,” a reflection on the dull environment of the city. The lyrics are well-written words about the stone garden where “both seeds are planted but nothing sprouts up.”
The cheery keyboards and soft drums upend the tone of the song with beautiful notes. Considering that this is a song about the monotonous environment of downtown, you’d expect the song to sound somewhat depressing, but it sounds like a confession of love.
However, this is the only song that disappoints. Overall, this collection of songs is a delight to listen to. Renea is one of the big new artists to look out for. Her debut proves that she’s got more spunk and attitude than many R&B artists.
