Reviewed by Stephen Adams

Tiffany's voice and lyrics exude mature soulfulness while the production from her husband Lew is banging. "New Wine" opens up with a brilliantly jazzy production and some soulful scatting. The lyrics exhort us to get rid of the old and get the new wine the Bible speaks of. The production is top notch on this album and really captures the moods of the songs. "Chajah" has a celebratory salsa feel which in the wrong hands would have come off as a cheesy Western imitation, but is done very well here. Insightful-yet-humourous spoken word features on "I Cut My Hair" while "Right On Time" bounces along on some FUNKY clavi playing. There are few missteps such as the MC called Virg who raps on "The Way You Do" sounds too much like one of the members of New York gangsta rap group Mobb Deep, and his lyrics are slightly cliché, making me think one of the more upbeat tracks would have been better suited for a rap. Also the typical cheese of getting a little child to do an interlude on "Malik's Beat" is cringe-worthy. However, those gripes are minor. All fans of quality R&B/neo-soul, you need to get this. For a cynical underground hip hop fan such as myself, it takes VERY good R&B to grab my attention, and my attention has been grabbed.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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