Lisa Shaw - Cherry

scoundrel, Jul 22, 2006

Lisa Shaw has lent her voice to some great tracks in the past, most notably her collaborations with Jay Denes’ Blue Six project. Here, on her solo album CHERRY, she takes the main stage with production assistance from Mr. Denes himself and Eric Stamile. But it shares the same problems with other solo vocalist album on Naked Music: an over-emphasis on the downtempo soul, not enough on the musical aspects. Sure, the title track has a bit of the funk to keep it going, but other tracks aren’t as distinguished. Somehow, it’s trying too hard to be sultry, and despite Shaw’s beautiful vocals, it isn’t succeeding. “Grown Apart” is slightly more upbeat, and it shows by being catchier, as do the moodier sounds of “Matter of Time” and “Always.” The Jimpster mix of “Let It Ride” has all the sexiness that the rest of the album lacks—perhaps house is the best genre to show off Shaw’s ample talents.

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