Afrodisiac

Afrodisiac
Brandy

Somebody at Warner Music must love Brandy. Apart from one monster hit single The Boy Is Mine (her duet with Monica), this TV/film actress’s pop career has spawned three relatively lacklustre albums over the last decade. Suddenly she now has two of the hottest names in R&B behind most of the tracks on this not-very-cleverly titled new album. Timbaland, Missy Elliott’s producer of choice, has produced and co-written nine songs, while 2004’s wunderkind Kanye West wrote and produced two of the remaining six. Kanye also raps on the first single, the oddly appealing Talk About Our Love. The other Kanye track Where U Wanna Be is less commercial but perhaps more haunting. In between these two songs, on I Tried, Brandy sings I think I wanna hear some Coldplay, and the album’s final song Should I Go is almost a tribute to the UK group with Brandy pouring out her heart over a sample from Clocks. R&B fans might be wishing Timbaland had produced Coldplay’s original when they hear this version. Timbaland’s efforts here recall his groundbreaking tracks with Aaliyah but his sound is now fuller and richer. The problem with Afrodisiac is while the lyrics are the most heartfelt Brandy’s ever recorded, her big-name producers are stealing her limelight.