Soul Express CD Review

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Rena Scott really is a fantastic talent and I first fell in love with her on her duet "Take Me I'm Yours" with Michael Henderson from his "In The Night Time" album from 1978 . I fell further with her superb 1989 CD, "Love Zone", which featured the superb "Night Dancing'" which was one of my hot summer favourites. Well, late 2004 produced this amazing album, and I was sold on it from the first 5 seconds of track one, "A Love Thang". I was certain that Leon Ware had a hand in this as it really smacked of his late 80s works with the likes of Krystol. Leon has no involvement but it really smacks of the great man's style and focus. This really is a headlining number amongst its other classy contemporaries. The tempo split between sultry, sexy ballads and funk dancers; the warm and cosy title song is a smasher in its own right. The deep bass tones and synths are drizzled with Rena's Teena Marie styled vocals.
If the more funkier and chunkier groove is more your bag then you should find some solace with the meaty "Good To Me" which reminds me slightly of Gwen Guthrie's "Hot Time In Harlem". "Move On It" is another head nodder that does not skimp on the bassline, and proves that you can get funky and uptempo without resorting to samples, rap and hyperbole. Indeed, "Plaything" almost has a British feel - I am thinking ARP's work with The Affair or The Jones Girls in the early 90s. I'm thinking of "Shoulda Been right" or "New Life" - that sort of bag a la ARP and Steve Carmichael.
My second killer cut, though, is the sublime sax drizzled "Day And Night". I know that you will just love this song! "I Know It's Right" treads a similar groove and would not be out of place alongside the classier cuts from the likes of Jennifer Holliday and Margaret Bell in the early 1990s.
If you like Jean Carne, then I think you will like "Remember" as I can definitely hear echoes of this great Lady in this smooth ballad. Following a number of steppers the tempo drops again to a Jones Girls 90s approach and the shuffly, tapping beat is crisp and clear; Rena and her co-producer Lloyd Talbot have the magic touch and their fingerprints of quality are all over this superb CD. What a great CD to see out 2004 and to welcome in 2005! I have great hopes for 2005 and let's hope that this quality will abound. Available from CD Baby.
- Barry Towler