Adina Howard is known to be surprising. Usually she just shows she has a lot of guts. To return to music was a bit of a surprise to me too. The last I heard she was thinking about doing something with cooking and it struck me as interesting how easily it looked like she could turn her back on music. Not many people can do that, but then it turned out she was constantly plotting a return. She signed new deals, but most actions taken would amount to the occasional track seeing a release and no follow up for a while. It’s the story of most artists. This has meant that her last album was released in 2007 and only now, has she managed to release a follow up, rightfully titled “Resurrection”.
There’s a bit of journey behind “Resurrection”. It is the result of about 2 years of work and some tracks, that were intended for this album, never made it on there.
When many r&b artists with success in the past release a new album, they usually find a balance between who they were, the music they used to make, and whatever is going on in music today. Adina Howard wouldn’t be the adventurous Adina Howard if she wouldn’t break this habit.
The only reference to the past is the recycling of her massive hit, “Freak Like Me”, in the song “Nasty”. It’s not there as a sample, but it’s rearranged to fit into the new song. I think other comeback acts should pay attention to this method. I appreciate this much better than rerecorded versions of songs.
“Resurrection” is in no way referring to the past in any other way. Every song fits the bill of r&b music today with hip hop and trap influences. This has positives and negatives. The negative is that there’s a lot of use of autotune, which on her is a bit of a shame. I think “Work”, “Love Jonez” (with a hint of soul), “Dishonest Mistake” and the only slow(er) jam on the album “Dearly Departed” are probably my personal highlights. The opening track, “Radiation”, is probably my least favorite. It probably would’ve worked better later on the album, but I think it’s too weak for the kick off (though I can understand the temptation of using it as the opener due to its topic).
Most tracks really remind me of the music tracks a lot of beat makers offer for sale or lease online. It’s the kind of music independent artists like me would work with, but you somehow don’t expect these tracks to end up with someone like Adina Howard. It’s not enough to convince me of a resurrection to the hype she created with “Freak Like Me”, but it’s good to see her back.
