Thursday, April 13, 2017

BRITT NICOLE



Brittany Nicole Waddell was born on August 2, 1984.  Best known as Britt Nicole, she released her major label debut SAY IT (Sparrow) in 2007.  The debut single ‘You’ peaked at #6 on Billboard’s Hot Christian Songs chart.  Her next studio album THE LOST GET FOUND came out in 2009.  The song ‘Walk on Water’ from it, was used by NBC’s ‘The Biggest Loser’.  Her third album, GOLD, came out in 2012 in the Christian market, and in 2013 in the mainstream market (Capitol).  In 2016 she released her self-titled fourth studio album.  Reflecting on it, she says: “There was no box..., no rules.  I just wrote from my heart and had fun.  I titled this record BRITT NICOLE because there is a part of me in every song.  I felt a lot of freedom in the writing.  There are songs about my husband, my kids, my friends, my struggles and my faith.  It is a true representation of who I am”.  Here, I am reviewing the Deluxe Edition of the album (Capitol CMG Label Group).  Twelve producers are used on the album.  They include: David Garcia, Joshua Crosby, Jason Ingram, Paul Mabury, Z. Will, and Rodney ‘Darkchild’ Jerkins.

Starting things off is the album’s lead single, ‘Through Your Eyes’.  It’s an upbeat pop music testimonial penned by Britt and Ben Glover: “You’re lifting my head up/I was keeping my head down/I didn’t know love/But I do now/Cause You stood right there and then You broke apart the lies/You told me I had something beautiful inside/You brought to life the part of me I thought had died/Cause You stood right there until I saw, I saw me/I saw me through Your eyes”.  Jonathan Crone plays guitars on the catchy pop tune ‘All the Money’.  It’s about puppy love: “No house in Bel Air could ever compare to the way you’re good to me/No ‘round the world cruise could rock me like you/You knock me right off my feet/It’s hard to describe/But I’m feeling like I won the lottery/It’s not your car, boy it’s your heart/That makes me feel like a queen/Cause a car can’t kiss goodnight/And a diamond can’t hold me tight”.

Britt, David Arthur Garcia, and Julia Michaels wrote ‘Better’, a pretty ballad of encouragement: “Hey girl in the back of the classroom/Just be strong/Some days feel like forever/But it won’t be long/Until you’re sittin’ on top of the world/Baby, believe it/Like a paper plane in the sky, you’ll fly, oh/I’ve been there/I’ve seen it all before/Baby, I was you/Hoping for something more”.  ‘Work of Art’ is a confidence booster for girls and ladies: “You were made for greatness/Beautifully created/By the One who made the stars/Baby, that’s just who we are/Take back what was taken/All those lies are vacant/We’re gonna tear them all apart/Let the truth invade our heart/Every freckle, every scar/You’re a work of art”.

Britt, her husband Joshua Crosby, Elley Duhe, and Robert Nix wrote ‘Fallin’ In Love’, a happy pop/dance track about a male-female relationship: “I’ve got this feeling and I can’t explain it/Can’t explain it/You got me feeling something so amazing, so amazing/There’s no denying that my heart is racing/This is crazy/I don’t wanna run this time/I just wanna stay this time/I just wanna keep on fallin’ in love with you/Ooh, over and over”.  ‘Be the Change’ is a single from the album.  This pop song inspires us to make a positive difference in our world: “So many hearts around the world, breaking/If I only got one chance, I’ll take it/Let my voice be a trumpet that can say that/Someone gotta be the hope and someone gotta be the love.../And don’t you know it starts today?/And baby, no, it’s not too late/It begins with you and I, you and I/Together we can be the change”.

‘All Day’ is an R & B ballad directed at Britt’s children: “Sometimes I gotta go to work/I be thinking ‘bout you all day/I be thinking ‘bout you in the studio/Be thinking ‘bout you on the stage/I was wishing I was holdin’ you/Wishing I was singing you to sleep/Thinking about you all the time, everyday, all night, all my life/I don’t wanna miss nothin’.../I will be there for you/When I can’t I know God will be holdin’ you!”  Patrick ‘Petey’ Martin and Alys Ffion wrote ‘Pave’, a sultry love song: “Say you wanna get outta here/Somewhere where the skies are clear/I know just the place to go/If we never make it there/I don’t care if you don’t care.../Me and you baby/We can go wherever/I can pave the road”.

‘No Filter’ is a marvelous adult contemporary piano based ballad about the facades we oft put on: “And what we let the whole world see/Isn’t really you and me/So tell me, what’s a picture worth if we can’t say a single word?/We always put a filter on to try to cover up the flaws/And if we do it all for show/I think it’s time we let it go/Cause I can picture us, picture us.../I can picture us with no filter on”.  Gary Lunn plays bass on ‘Girls Night Out’, which also uses a horn section.  It’s a playful, carefree dance number: “No worries, no drama and no broken hearts/Don’t know where we’re goin’/Just get in the car/We’re perfectly perfect/The way that we are, we are/Cause we ain’t got nothing to prove, ooh/We’ll let our hair down/And do what we wanna do, ooh/There ain’t no boys allowed”.

Britt, Joshua Crosby, and Jason Ingram penned ‘After You’ which includes strings by Matt Butler.  It’s an intimate praise and worship song: “There’s nothing sweeter than Your love/It’s all I want, it’s all I need/There’s nothing sweeter than Your love/You gave it all, poured out for me/So I’m not after the world/I’m after You”.  The Deluxe Edition of the album includes three bonus cuts, the first of which is ‘Concrete’.  Julia Michaels, Chris Sernel, and Mitch Allen wrote this song about a durable relationship: “You and me are concrete/Even if the demons try and get you/I’ll be standing there right by your side/Everytime/There’s no mistake that you can make/That’s ever gonna make me walk away”.

‘Heart of Stone’ is a groovy R & B song that cries out to God: “They say that the armor makes you strong/I might be safe but I’m all alone/Been hiding from the light for way too long/Tell me You can break this heart of stone.../Only You can break it.../I’m never going back to the chains I wore before”.  Last up is ‘Electric Love’ written by Britt, her husband, and Rodney ‘Darkchild’ Jerkins.  Frederik Halland plays guitar on this happy tune: “So tell me where you wanna, tell me where you wanna go/We can fly to the moon and watch the world down below/We can sail into the open/We can sail into the open seas/Boy, if I got you I got all I need/Yeah, cause we got electric, we got electric love”.

BRITT NICOLE is an absolutely terrific pop/dance album with R & B influences.  Her vocals are top notch.  She holds her own with mainstream counterparts Selena Gomez and Demi Lovato. To top it off she’s a pretty good rapper too as evidenced on a couple of the tracks!  Love songs about male-female relationships are the most common theme, but a close second is God’s love for us-out of which our self-esteem should spring.  There are also songs about having a good time, her love for her children, and making a positive difference in the world.  Britt is a beautiful lady who is a great role model for young folks.  She does not promote promiscuity.  I’m rating this fourth studio album of hers (and my favourite), a perfect 100% and recommending it to fans of Miley Cyrus, V. Rose, and Rihanna.  The Deluxe Edition clocks in at 55 minutes and 24 seconds.  For more info visit: www.brittnicole.com and www.themcollective.com.