Rachel Brown - Love, Life & Relationships Review
Posted by Mitch Michaels on 10.18.2007
South Florida soul diva makes her debut…
My Story
It seems there are only two kinds of R&B/soul artists these days. You have the vocalists who were inspired by the likes of legends like Aretha Franklin, Wilson Pickett, Jackie Wilson and Ann Peebles. Then you have the people who get played on the radio. New to the scene, Rachel Brown seems to fall in the former category: a serious artist concerned with leaving her mark on the world of soul as a true student of the greats and an inspiration to her age. Will she succeed?
Her Story
Rachel Brown was born and raised in Lufkin, a decent-sized town in east Texas. She began her singing career as a vocalist in her church choir. She also began training as a classical pianist at the age of 6. By the end of high school, she was a veteran of area choirs and gospel groups.
Brown eventually relocated to Ft. Lauderdale, where she continued to pursue a career as a musician and performer. Throughout the next decade, Rachel slowly built a name for herself as one of south Florida’s hottest attractions. By the mid-2000’s, you could find Brown performing in some of the areas most popular night spots as well as opening for stars like gospel staples John P. Kee and Dorothy Norwood and R&B acts Cameo and Ann Nesby.
In 2006, Brown entered the studio with producers James “JT” Taylor (former Kool & The Gang frontman) and Israel “The Iz!” Charles to work on her official debut album. The album was released the next year. Brown is currently touring in the Florida area. For dates, check out her MySpace page.
The Album
On August 14, 2007, Urban Music Group released Love, Life & Relationships, the debut album by Rachel Brown.
The Band: 8.0
Rachel Brown: vocals
When it comes to Rachel Brown’s voice, one word immediately pops in to mind: natural. In a world of pre-processed, assembly line-manufactured R&B, Brown and her producers keep the faith firmly in Brown’s ability without performing any of those fancy studio tricks that makes every brother out there singing these days sound like R. Kelly. And that gamble pays off. Brown’s singing is as smooth and fluent as a cloud of cigar smoke, bringing to mind the south Florida night clubs where she no doubt has spent plenty of the wee hours over the decade she’s been plying her trade.
The production on here is interesting too. With such a fine vocalist, JT and Iz could have went the traditional route and had Brown stick close to the soul standards of the 70’s, but they’ve chosen instead to spice things up a bit, with some nice electronic beats and a few other modern techniques that plant Love, Life & Relationships firmly in the present. As a result, the sound of this album becomes a sort of interesting hybrid of classic soul and modern lite R&B. If that sounds like something you could dig, read on.
The Songs: 7.0
1. Thank You (Intro)
2. Rise Again
3. Learn To Love Me
4. Don’t Ask My Neighbor
5. Weekend
6. Spend The Night
7. Where Did We Go Wrong
8. Let’s Fall In Love Again
9. Do What U Do
10. Just A Girl
11. Make It Official
12. Promise Of Love (Wedding Song) (Duet with Reno Walker)
13. Something To Think About (My Child Intro)
14. My Child
15. Let’s Fall In Love Again (Izzy Iz Dance Remix)
Love, Life & Relationships is about exactly that. Brown and her production team have written fourteen tracks that deal with the every day feelings of love, lust, loss, anger and everything else that comes with investing your heart into something. The themes are universal, but the skill with which the songs are written (and delivered) make them ballads for the everyman (or everywoman, rather). They’re songs about what we’ve all been through, made the more believable by the forthright language and Brown’s gorgeous but plain presentation.
“Rise Again” kicks things off and is an amazingly uplifting song about the ending of a relationship. Lyrics like “I might be down, but let me make it plain/Just like the sun, I will rise again” draw the listener in and let us know that this is something real, a quality that has been missing in R&B and all of pop music for too long. Other highlights include “Learn To Love Me”, which deals with loving yourself before someone else can love you, “Just A Girl”, a song about keeping your business straight at home, and “Let’s Fall In Love Again”, the record’s first single.
Most of this record contains uplifting messages, from loving yourself to taking care of your children to not getting caught up in one night stands. Not all of the songs work as well as others (“Spend The Night” is a bit clumsy), but they’re all at worst a good try. Lighter moments include the girls night out anthem “Weekend” and the dance remix of “Let’s Fall”, and those are both fun.
The 411: Rachel Brown’s debut is aptly named, as the songs all deal with love and relationships. Real life, in other words. And it doesn’t get more real than this. From Brown’s honest, beautiful voice to the organic sound of the album’s arrangements, Love, Life & Relationships is a great R&B record for people sick of the BS that the mainstream has been cranking out since new jack swing. If you like well-sung soul or just like a little bit of authenticity in your music, give Rachel Brown a chance.
