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| IreneB: Welcome Back, Miss Barcelona! IreneB, the Spaniard R&B singer, releases her second record, Welcome Back, on sale on September 25th. "What we're gonna do right here is bring it back, way back, back in time, let's go", that's how IreneB's second album starts. A powerful statement that clears up what's happening for the next forty five minutes: you´re going to enjoy a tribute that the artist always wanted to do for nineties R&B, that used to rock the charts for the entire decade. The artist from Barcelona released her first album, Metamorphosis, in 2009, becoming then the first Spaniard to ever release an English R&B album worldwide. The release and success of the record got her a feature in Jeff Lorber's Grammy Nominated album "Now Is The Time" (2010) where she performed not only with Jeff himself, but with other legendary jazz musicians like Dave Koz, Dave Weckl or Jimmy Haslip. This second LP, Welcome Back, is a more intimate collection of songs and sounds that remind us of singers and groups IreneB has listened to since she was a child, those who shaped her essence as a singer: Mariah Carey, Aaliyah, TLC and Boyz II Men. A good example of this is the first track on this record, "Ride" —collaboration with Canadian rapper/actor Rams Fax—, that sounds like a genuine Bad Boy Records production, and takes us straight to the mid-nineties chart topping style created by producer and rapper P. Diddy. Or the last one, "You" (only available as a bonustrack in the digital version of the album), produced by young Spaniard Diana Feria, that reminds us of TLC's flagship song, "Waterfalls". In this record, we also find dancy songs like "Don't Come Back", that emulates late eighties new jack swing in a tribute to its New York raised creator Teddy Riley; or mid-tempos "Oh Baby" or "What Is Up With You?" (produced by Canadian Trey Mills, that had already collaborated with the singer in her first LP); sensual ballads such as "First Class Flight" or "Don't Think About It"; and even touching on a more intense subject on "Sober", taking a glimpse to what a woman goes through in an abusive relationship. Production for the rest of the album is carried out by 2007 Latin Grammy winner Frankie Biggz, also responsable for IreneB's debut album, who admits: "It was so much fun to work on this record, I had the chance to dust off some old keyboards and "toys" and play with them again." With Metamorphosis, her first record, we witnessed IreneB's transformation; with "Welcome Back, " we experience a more mature artist, that experiments with different registers and textures in her voice. "Welcome Back" Tracklist: 1. Ride (feat. Rams Fax) 2. Don't Come Back 3. What Is Up With You? 4. V.I.P. (feat. Nate Walka) 5. Take It Slow 6. First Class Flight 7. Don't Think About It 8. Oh Baby 9. The Blame 10. Sober 11. Best Friends 12. You (Digital Bonustrack Only) write your comments about the article :: © 2012 Jazz News :: home page |