Candice Glover “Music Speaks” Album Review

In a perfect world, an artist's music ought to speak for itself.  But in our tone death culture, hype seems to be driving the success of an artist.  Since last year, Candice Glover has been riding on the caboose of American Idol.  But is there enough steam leftover from the singing contest to drive the attention of her much anticipated post Idol debut "Music Speaks?"  Frankly, Glover faces quite a bumpy uphill ride for at least a quartet of reasons.  First, the release of "Music Speaks" comes months after fickle America has last seen her face on TV. Such a time lapse certainly has chirp off the hoopla surrounding who Glover was and the show itself.  Second, unlike the times of Carrie Underwood and Kelly Clarkson, Idol is no longer venerated by the watching public as it used to be.  In fact, last year's Idol garnered some of the paltriest ratings in the show's history.  Third, Glover's crowning single "I Am Beautiful" received a tepid sales response. Considering the vapid nature of illegal file sharing, no longer do you find the public rushing out to buy an Idol winning single. Fourth, American Idol has had the hardest time trying to break its R&B-leaning winners (think: Ruben Studdard).  Unless there's resurgence, the R&B market is no longer the cash cow as it once was when Whitney Houston, Toni Braxton and Mariah Carey used to rule the airwaves in the 90s.

With all the odds against Glover and with this album being pushed back again and again, "Music Speaks" finally gets to see the light of day.  In some measures, Glover has followed the footsteps of many of her preceding Idol winners in churning up what is a polished contemporary sounding record that bears little resemblance to the classic songs she used to sing on the TV show.  Enlisting the Underdogs, Jazmine Sullivan, Mike WiLL Make It, Jazmine Sullivan, Rodney 'Darkchild' Jerkins and even fellow Idol alum Fantasia Barrino onto her carriage, "Music Speaks" is so star studded that it almost blinds.  But, Glover also shows she's no mindless puppet.  Instead of being programmed to manufacture yet another conveyor belt radio friendly product, Glover has put her foot down in recording what is her forte: sultry R&B-styled slow ballads. 

"Cried," an ode to the power of the lacrimal glands, opens up the proceedings.  Allowing her to flip from her delicate falsetto to her power belts, "Cried" (co-written by Jazmine Sullivan) sounds like it's one of those gorgeous ballads coming from the 90s yet still never sounding dated.  Though everything sounds great on paper, the song "Cried" lacks direction: it starts off well but before it leads to a climatic hook, the song's already over. She repeats the same formula with 'Die for You" to similar disappointing results. Though this time, the use of some laser-like electronics and prodding drums makes it a little more redeemable.  On the other hand, "Passenger" reeks with too many boiler plate clichés.  Nevertheless, the best ballad melody wise is "Damn."  Despite Glover's Gospel roots and citing three passages of Scripture in the CD booklet, this is a song coming from the perspective of "the other woman."  Relying just on her bellowing alto that occasionally does break out with melissa and a jazzy piano, "Forever that Man" returns to the bread and butter of R&B.      

Fantasia Barrino offers her pen in co-writing one of the album's more upbeat tracks "In the Middle."  Its serpentine sounding guitar and its deliberate reggae-styled rap certainly makes it a standout.  "Thank You" and an acoustic version of her single "I Am So Beautiful" draws upon Glover's own biography.  Being once criticized that her career will not go beyond a hotel lobby and once disqualified from a previous season of Idol, "Thank You" details how disappointments are not deterrents but they can be enablers in our lives.  "I Am Beautiful" which flourishes over a soft guitar driven backing is still the lodestar as Glover reminds us that in the eyes of the Maker we are forever beautiful.  Glover, in sum, is an artist that can incur goose-bumps performances where she can mesmerize her audience with her every syllable, but she's just not given enough of such opportunities on disc.  Maybe with her sophomore effort, she'll let her music speak louder for itself.

Tags : American Idol Candice Glover Music Speaks Fantasia Barrino Jazmine Sullivan