Singer’s songs slowly sizzle
Album: I Am My Own Artist: Kimberley MacGregor (Independent)
★★★ 1/2 out of 5
With a title like I Am My Own, you might expect an album filled with anthems about inner strength. Singer/guitarist Kimberley MacGregor doesn’t disappoint with her latest soulblues effort. It’s forceful but not intimidating — her songs tend to slowly sizzle their way into your soul. “I’m OK, I’m OK / Can’t take that away, take that away from me,” she warbles on I’m Okay, a languid number warmed by the twangy notes glinting off a slide guitar.
“I’m going to exorcise my demons and I’m going to be free,” MacGregor asserts on Building a Case, as a loping horse of a bass line guides her through a storm of percussion. “I am not here to fade away and disappear / And I am not here to live up to your desires,” she drawls on the album’s most overt girl-power track, I Am Not Here, featuring the defiant rhymes of hip-hop artist Tzadeka.
While MacGregor didn’t record I Am My Own on her own — she’s deftly assisted by slide guitarist Nathan Burns, bassist Harry Gregg, and drummer Geoffrey Hamdon O’Brien — she’s the star of this album. Her nimble voice, which helped her win two Edmonton Music Awards in June, could be a line of BBQ sauces, ranging from bittersweet (Bigger) to smokin’ (Trouble) to extra spicy (Go, Duty).
MacGregor celebrates the release of I Am My Own on Saturday, Oct. 17 at Big Al’s House of Blues, 15004 Yellowhead Trail. With openers Tzadeka and Concealer. Tickets are $12 plus service charges at yeglive.ca. Sandra Sperounes, Edmonton Journal
Album: Fetty Wap Artist: Fetty Wap (RGF Productions/300 Entertainment)
★★★ out of 5 Fetty Wap spring-boarded into mainstream success — before even releasing an album — with the Top 10 pop hits Trap Queen, 679 and My Way. Despite that early success, most wondered if the 24-year-old rapper-singer could deliver on a full-length musical project. He certainly steps up to the challenge on his self-titled debut. The production is solid throughout and his vocal delivery is infectious, though his content lacks some depth.
Wap is not much of a lyricist, but he uses the winning formula of melodic yet grungy sound on his 17-track album. It works on Couple Bandz and Again, another Top 40 hit, where he attempts to convince a lover that he’s about chasing money instead of other women. On RGF Island, Wap brags about spending excessive money with his crew on an island. He introduces a loyal mate to the street life on Jugg, featuring Monty, who makes his presence known on multiple songs here. Jonathan Landrum Jr., Associated Press