The title, All Of Me, sets listeners up for some major disappointment given the fact that this is the same Estelle who, in 2008, presented to the world one of the best pop songs of the year. If this album represents all of her, she doesn’t have a lot of good to offer. Nevermind the fact that none of these songs even come close to American Boy. The problem is that they aren’t all that (catchy) in their own rite.
She’s a girl who makes a big deal of not being like other girls; at one point, she mentions how getting married and having kids aren’t for her, despite what her dad had in mind; but the romantic topics she covers on most of these songs, two of which have the word “Love” in the title, are oh so typical. They’re listenable though. The chatty interludes, titled and listed as if they were more songs, are intellectually annoying.
The chorus on Speak Ya Mind sounds like Beyoncé’s Rather Be With You and Adina Howard’s Freak Like Me, but melodic similarities are bound to happen. What I don’t get is why Estelle feels the need to rap when her singing voice sounds much better. It’s not smooth enough to save the album, that would’ve been up to the melodies, but give it a breezy beat with a couple of Rick Ross verses and it makes for nice vibes.
my rating : 3 of 5
2012