SHINING DANCE DEBUT FROM MULTI-GENRE NEW ARTIST
Posted August 18, 2009
By CCMmagazine,
I think Mary Mary just put the smack down on Family Force 5. Or was that Jill Scott singing Reggae? Wait. That has got to be a Motown cover. Forget trying to classify the sounds on Jade Harrell’s debut record, Class Reject. It’s all original and all new. With a hearty list of likes that begins with Rascal Flatts and checks off Prince, Brandy and Michael W. Smith along the way, dance/pop/singer/songwriter Jade Harrell experiments with an all-of-the-above list of genres that could keep her entire block hopping all night long.
Though her funky techno beats breed visions of disco balls and dance floors, Harrell goes deeper, finding her own “inner dance party” as she wades through the ins and outs of relationships—both human and heavenly. On the single “Me & My Radio,” she declares she “don’t need a club to dance tonight,” and gauging from the record’s back-to-back grooves, she’s right. “Who You Are” uses a pulsing piano backbone to drive home a message of self-acceptance, while the versatile singer rocks out on “The UnSeen,” asking the rebellious Christian, “Is the grass really greener on the other side?”
“Don’t Leave” features hardcore soul/pop with wild wurlitzers, downbeat tambourines and an Aretha-esque performance by Harrell. “Rain” flirts with reggae, and “What a Fool Believes” is none other than the Doobie Brothers ’70s classic, justified with an updated millennium sound, but completely and wonderfully recognizable.
Signed to rap/hip-hop duo GRITS’ Revolution Art label as a teen, Harrell is far from your typical new artist. And considering the musicians who discovered her, it’s not hard to understand why she is so artistically atypical. With a common denominator of dance, Class Reject throws an all-out musical soiree that’s as heavy in aural expression as it is hopeful messages.
Bye-bye, iShuffle. So long, mix tapes. One spin of Class Reject should satisfy all your musical cravings. —Andrew Greer View All Music And Book Reviews By CCMmagazine | View CCMmagazine's Profile
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