I first got a taste of Rebecca Jade’s fabulous voice when she guested on Kevin Flournoy‘s masterful cover of Alicia Key’s No One. There, she was the focal point of what I described as “A reggae groove wearing a pop hat!” This time out we find her pushing her own brand of sparkling R&B.
R&B seems to be having a renaissance in the modern age, a perfect storm of soulful traditions and poised-pop attitudes, rootsy grooves and beautiful addictiveness. And that is everything that What’s It Gonna Be is. But it is also deftly cut and wonderfully spacious enough for the instrumentation to be able to breathe, percolate and mature like fine sonic wine.
And at the front of it all, riding a wave of ebbing and flowing sonics, spiralling riffs and chiming musical motifs, popping and pulsing bass lines, is Rebecca Jade’s sensuous and sensational voice.
There is no shortage of R&B in the world today, but rarely is it delivered this brilliantly.
