Jamelia parted ways with her record company earlier this year, apparently over the mishandling of her last project, Walk with Me, which, while despite being a fantasic album, yielded few hits. So here they big a formal farewell by releasing 11 of Jamelia's more popular singles, omitting only a handful of the last popular. There are no new tracks.
From her first album, Drama (2000), we get "Money," collaboration with Beenie Man that served as her breakout single and first top 5 hit in the UK, and "Bout," for which she teamed up with Rah Digga. Both are from an era of British R&B where big sounds were really in, so you gets lots of loud beating bass drums and synth bursts. They're not bad, better than the mid-tempo "Call Me."
Almost half this collection consists of songs from Jamelia's second album, Thank You (2003), and for good reason. This was the peak of her career when Jamelia embraced a pop sound and scored a Mercury Music Prize nomination. "Superstar" remains her best single: funky, danceable, and irresistable. None of these singles are bad. "Thank You" is better than average empowerment pop. Her Chris Martin collaboration, "See It in A Boy's Eyes," is dark and funky but with a Coldplay piano pop touch. Bass-heavy "DJ" and soulful "Stop" were released together, and while not as good as these others, are still welcome.
Then finally there was Walk with Me (2006). Mid-tempo "Something About You" still sounds great, as does the "Personal Jesus"-sampling "Beware of the Dog." Releasing the over-produced "No More" as a single was a mistake though, as there were vastly superior choices from the album.
Best: Superstar, Thank You, Something About You, See It in A Boy's Eyes, Beware of the Dog
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