In 2008 came the second album from the London-based singer and rapper Estelle (Swaray). By the time she had released “Shine”, her sophomore album, she had broken into the mainstream as she had moved on her music by re-locating to the USA and linked up with some big players in the R&B and Hip Hop game to help her out along the way.
1. “Wait”
Getting the album underway comes what came as the first single from the album and a pretty hit in itself as you see tha there she prepared to do big things by dropping this heavy jam as she links up with will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas and with him on the production, you see that here he decides to come out with a fly jam where he mixes the two things that she is best known for and gets it off to a great start.
**Four Stars**
2. “No Substitute Love”
I saw this as a killer tune from the singer and one that stands as one of my most favoured singles from the album as you see that here you get a nice little cover of the Reggae hit of the same name by Half Pint. It samples George Michael’s “Faith”, which seems to bring the fun into it. I felt that she worked well with the material and she made it her own as she takes minimal elements of the feel of the original and makes it more commercial.
**Five Stars**
3. “American
Boy”
Along “Wait” did well, it has to be said that it was this track that did it for her and managed to take her into the mainstream’s attention as she came with an irresistible Pop track where she works with the Chicagoan MC Kanye West as well as will.i.am again on the beats in a tuen about her love for the type of people named in the title. It does the job, but overplay led to it becoming annoying and so holds it back slightly.
**Four Stars**
4. “More Than Friends”
In what is the first non-single on the album, you see that here you have the artist bringing a pretty decent one as she does another one that takes on a similar formula to what had come on all the tunes leading up to this point and with Keezo Kane bringing some light production to assist her, it seems to show that she has big things to offer in the main body of this release too and will show it from this point.
**Four Stars**
5. “Magnificent”
In this one you see that you get here getting into material that brings in quite a bit of Hip Hop influence and much of this is down to the fact that you see that it is Mark Ronson who brings the beats and you also get the Canadian Hip Hop artist Kardinal Offishall bringing what he is known for to the thing and together they make for a fly jam that contuse the trend of having heavy tunes to show that her weak debut can be ignored now.
**Four Stars**
6. “Come Over”
After playing around with it earlier, you see that here you get a track that takes on Reggae directly, and doesn’t water it down like had been seen on other tunes leading up to this point. It dropped as a single and was designed to show the kind of variety that she was capable of, but personally I wasn’t into this kind of things as it simply didn’t appeal to my tastes and I felt like it was a weak point in the album as a result.
**Two Stars**
7. “So Much Out The Way”
Coming off a low, you see tha there she is able to effective recover as she changes things p with this one and comes out with a funky jam where she decides to make the rapping much more prominent. In this one you find that she brings out a jam that has here ridging some beats from Wycleff Jean (formerly of The Fugees) and using other material from the album (“No Substitute Love” to boost her along the way).
**Five Stars**
8. “In The Rain”
Johnny Douglas brings some live beats for this one to give things some energy and to get you in the mood for more of the same sort of things that have been heard leading up to this point. It would be easy to complain tha there isn’t too much developing through the release, but I felt that you can see that within the specific field that she works in, she explores it well and so is able to come up with feel-good tunes such as this one.
**Four Stars**
9. “Back In Love”
You get some experimental production coming from Tom Craskey on this one and it seems to enable her to coming out with some more alternative work as here she brings a tune that takes on a little Jazz influence to show how she is willing to try a few new things thins time around. I can’t say that this song really did it for me, as it wasn’t my thing, but this softer material may appeal to others who enjoy her work.
**Two Stars**
10. “You Are”
Getting help form the Soul singer John Legend, as she had done on her 2004 debut, you see that here the two of them decide to do things that are more in-line with what the guest is known to do things like. It is another on the release what I felt played up to the sorts of alternative things that I wasn’t too impressed by as you get some slower, and less engaging material nothing like their single “Free” from earlier).
**Two Stars**
11. “Pretty Please”
With help from Cee-Lo (of Gnarles Barkley and Goodie Mob) you get another big single from her and one that is bound to grow on you in the same way that a lot of her other tunes tend to as you see how well she works off jack Splash’s production with the guest vocalist as they perform an inviting love song that that has her sticking to the R&B side of what she does to show how well she can explore this specifically.
**Four Stars**
12. “Shine”
As she brings the album to a close you see that there is no stopping the hype that has come with it as she recruits Swizz Beatz to give her some of that good stuff,. Which he delivers and gives her some bouncy material to leave it on a bit hype as she gets the chance to ride it in a way so that she can bring her nice raps during the verse and is still able to lay down some gentle vocals on the hook to create a contrast.
**Four Stars**
When compared to what came of her debut album, you have to see this as a massive improvement as you find that here she decides to keep more tot he R&B side and only bring in the raps where it is relevant (rather than force it). There are a few weaker ones within it, but on the whole it is worth a listen and has something for everyone.
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