Album of the week

(Universal)

Aaradhna

Aaradhna says her fourth album, Brown Girl, is a response to people trying to put you in a box, ’’when there’s more to you than meets the eye’’.

In the song of the same name, Brown Girl, the Kiwi crooner of Samoan and Indian decent sings about how she is ‘‘not just a brown girl’’, but a girl that likes to sing. The track is a response to her experiences with racism, which she matched with an open letter to her fans about the subject.

The many, beautifully layered sides to the new album is the perfect aural accompaniment to Aaradhna’s message of diversity.

Brown Girl dips in and out of genres, sewn cleverly together by Aaradhna’s smooth-as-caramel soul vocal.

It kicks-off with soul-funk inspired Welcome to the Jungle, with tribal hand-drums, wood percussion and 80s electronic finishes.

Empty Hall has a spaghettiwestern feel to it, and Aaradhna taps into her inner Southern Belle in acoustic guitar country ballad Talk Sweet to Me. Under the Blue Moon has a relaxed, Mexican evening mood, with a quiet lap steel and castanets.

Drunken Heart, Smokey Mind will remind you of Aaradhna’s up-beat, doo-wop pop side, the one that shot her to new stardom heights with Wake Up.

This is a multi-faceted album that shows you cannot pigeon-hole Aaradhna and will leave you cooing with delight.