Shine - Dark Publications

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Editorial Reviews:

Amazon.co.uk
Award-winning British artist Estelle never got her just desserts for her 2004 debut album The 18th Day. Though the record was a critical success, it failed to make the mainstream splash many had hoped for. Her sophomore project, Shine, seems hell bent on avoiding the same fate. Backed up by a coterie of high profile US starlets--Wyclef Jean, will.i.am, Mark Ronson and Kanye West--Shine has surefire commercial success written all over it; though that's not to say Estelle has sold out. Despite the high-impact American-style production, Shine remains reassuringly British. Estelle's West London twang is as sharp as ever, and even Kanye drops rhymes about "WAGS" and "London Boys" (see single "American Boy"). It's every bit as diverse as its predecessor too, featuring dancehall party jams ("Magnificent", produced by Mark Ronson and featuring Kardinal Offishall), the will.i.am produced "Wait a Minute (Just a Touch)" (which uses a twisted up sample from Screamin' Jay Hawkins' "I Put a Spell on You") to lovers' rock ("Come Over") and, of course, some love ballads too, such as "Substitute Lover", overseen by Wyclef. A solid all-round follow up, Shine should give Estelle the commercial success she deserves. --Danny McKenna

Amazon.com
The UK's finest, multiple award-winning artist Estelle is back with a brand new album on a brand new label. Signed by US `Soul Sensation' John Legend to his Homeschool label, the album is a joint venture between Homeschool and Atlantic Records.

"I have known John for a while now...we worked on my first album 18th day before he was signed. He featured on "Hey Girl," played piano on "Free," and appeared in the video. As I went to do my second album I asked him to help exec-produce it. As I progressed with it, I left my label and he said he'd sign me and here we are today. We always make great songs together. While I like and listen to a lot of musicians - there aren't many I respect on a level to help me write songs or upgrade/push me as an artist...but John is one of them."

The album features collaborations with the likes of Kanye West, Will.I.Am, Wyclef Jean, Mark Ronson, Ceelo, Swizz Beatz who are just some of the `hitmakers' that Estelle has been in the studio with...and of course, John Legend.

Album Description
Japanese pressing. Includes two bonus tracks, 'I Wanna Live' & 'Life To Me'. 14 total tracks. Warner. 2008.

Customer Reviews: Read 37 more reviews...

4 out of 5 stars

Sassy rap and soft vocals. April 29, 2008
56 out of 56 found this review helpful

For some reason, things never really took off for this talented young UK soul singer when she first emerged four years ago, all freshness and light.
Unwilling to settle for also-ran status, she upped sticks to the States and made some powerful friends.
Now resident in New York, the London lass gets an international makeover. Cue Kanye West guest slot, John Legend in the control room, with Will.i.am, Mark Ronson, Wyclef and Cee-Lo lending helping hands. With that sort of support and Estelle's smarts and agility - embracing everything from summery funk to Lily Allen lovers' rock - she can hardly fail. And, despite this being a bit heavy on production and light on substance, she doesn't.
Although the album includes mainly smooth American-sounding production, Estelle's gritty Englishness hasn't entirely vanished and she marks her personality neatly across all 12 tracks on this album: even with the stateside makeover Estelle seems to be sticking to her roots and definitely pushes the bar in making "Shine" as unique as possible
Kanye West makes a playful cameo on her current single, "American Boy".
Kicking off with a spunky opening, it is a track which clearly draws on many influences: velvety vocals and a certain 1940's dancehall feel make for some smash hit ingredients.
The songstress proves she is a lady of many talents by providing the record with a speckle of sassy rapping.
Not instantly catchy, take a few listens and you will be hooked on the Estelle vibe.
Refreshingly, despite the Amerie/Rihanna-style R&B pop of opening track "Wait A Minute (Just A Touch)", Estelle has remained true to her very British sweet ska soul sound on numerous tracks, and the entire album is a testament to her breezy, effortless ability to bring a host of musical styles under her soul-pop umbrella.
"Shine" is a truly original combination of sounds mixed with sassy rap lyrics and soft vocals, there guarantees to be one that everyone will take pleasure in hearing : it certainly shines bright enough, to make you consider pulling out the shades.
The 18th Day

5 out of 5 stars

Estelle and her armada of American boys... April 29, 2008
23 out of 32 found this review helpful

I became a fan of UK soul singer Estelle in 2004 after seeing the
video to her delightful hit single "1980" as well as the hit "Free",
which led me to get her brilliant debut CD "The 18th day" (reminiscent
of Lauryn Hill's debut). It was a nice blend of soul and hip hop, with
a British attitude. Unfortunately (as happens ever-so-often in the
music industry), the public didn't get it (the album stalled at #35 in
the UK) and she was dropped by her record label after two more singles
which barely registered with the public (no reflection on the music
though which was, as I stated, brilliant!). Fast forward to 2008 and
Estelle is back with a bang, though she had to cross the pond and arm
herself with an armada of behemoths like will.i.am, Wyclef, Mark
Ronson, Swizz Beatz, and John Legend (the latter who signed her to his
record label) to do it.

The result? A #1 smash in the UK with her breezy throbbing techno/hip
hop hit "American boy" (sampling will.i.am's "Impatient") featuring
Kanye West guest rapping about "wags" and "blokes" (and pronouncing
rubbish as "Roo-bish") while Estelle sings free-form in an upper
register. Thankfully, she does not lose her British attitude (which
shines through in her singing/rapping), thus saving "Shine" from
falling into the "anyone could have recorded it" pit.

At 12 tracks, the album is mercifully not over packed like most
(American) R&B albums tend to be. Sampling the verses of George
Michael's "Faith" is the brilliant guitar festooned "No substitute
love" with a slight Island carnival feel. It sounds like something
Lauryn Hill or the Fugees would do, and is aptly produced by ex-Fugee
Wyclef, who also produces the similar hip hop-ish "So much out the
way" which lifts a few lines from Bob Marley's "So much things to
say". The retro sounding "In the rain" samples the chorus from Love
Unlimited's "Walking in the rain with the one I love" set to a hip hop
groove and complete with speeded up chipmunk vocals.

"Wait a minute (just a touch)" is a bouncy will.i.am production with a
very catchy hook (and a rapped message about thinking twice before
hopping in the sack; "Wrap it up 'cause I ain't carrying your embryo"
she says). This was actually the lead single which barely bothered the
charts unfortunately. Mr Legend himself lends his smooth vocals to the
Neo Soul ballad "You are", while Cee-Lo guests on the upbeat
Motown-ish "Pretty please (love me)" which sounds like something
Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell would have done. "More than friends" and
"Back in love" are both lovely retro soul ballads.

The Mark Ronson produced "Magnificent" is a reggae song as is the
lovely and sultry "Come over" (which is to be more precise, Lovers
Rock; I love the way she says "Baby" and the soothing Ooo ooos).
Appropriately proclaiming her inner strength and resilience
(lyrically) is the upbeat Swizz Beatz produced title track with clunky
percussion and a semi biographical rap, and I am glad Estelle has had
her second chance to indeed "Shine".

A thoroughly enjoyable menagerie of Soul, Pop, Hip hop and Reggae,
with Estelle flitting from singing to rapping with the greatest of
ease. The album debuted in the UK at #6. Sometimes, second time around
is the charm; just ask Amy Winehouse.

5 out of 5 stars

This is what we expected from Lauryn Hill before she fell off!!! April 29, 2008
7 out of 11 found this review helpful

From the soulful vein of John Legend comes Estelle's American debut album and the perfect follow up to her European debut, The 18th Day. The production is flawless, but this CD is more about an artist coming of age and laying out a work of art. You can listen to this CD from Track 1 to Track 12. There is no filler and fluff tracks. The collaborations with Legend himself, Kanye West, Kardinal Official and Cee-Lo Green are all testaments to her versatility. Summer afternoon on the back porch sippin' lemonade or something stronger and groovin'. Despite its forays into hip-hop, this is an adult album steeped in the musical arrangements of the soulful seventies. You will love the way her voice bounces and skips over every track. It will be interesting to see where her music takes up next time out after her first two efforts. This one is an actual purchase...don't even download it. You will want to owv the hard copy!

4 out of 5 stars

Forget Lauryn Hill, Here's Estelle May 17, 2008
5 out of 9 found this review helpful

Estelle Swaray was born in London in 1980 of Caribbean and West African heritage. After appearing on some other artists albums she finally got the chance to release her debut album in 2004 titled the "The 18th Day", which featured hits like "18", "Free" and "Go Gone", the album itself didn't have released outside of the UK but it did have a great impact over there. Estelle is both a rapper and Soul singer and at times she resembles Lauryn Hill. The Music is very varied with influences from almost anything but with a lot if retro soul feel. However, As good as her debut album was it wasn't enough to get the chance to record a sequel so she was dropped the label V2 and was withiut a contract til she met up with John Legend that was impressed with her talent and imediatly signed her to his Atlantic associated label Homeschool. This didn't only mean that we were finally seing the daylight of her new album but also that she got better promotion, better producers ( Will.I.am, Wyclef Jean and Swizz Beatz) and also the chance to make a name of herself in the US.

Sophmore album "Shine" is an excellent follow up, even better then her debut and the debut single "American Boy" peaked at #1 on the UK charts. The single used some retro disco beats that also were used for Will.i.am's own song "Impatient" and a guest verse from Kanye West (which is monotone and boring as usual by the way) but Will.i.am's feelings for pop hits is amazing and the song end up being quite irresistable. Will.i.am continues abd also produced the other single "Wait A Minute" which is one of his best productions in a while, the simularities between Estelle (who both sings and rap here) and Laurun Hill are undeniable here. With it's brassy retro sound and Will.i.am's hit appeal it's another success story. "No Substitute" borrows part of the verse from George Michaels's "Faith" but it does it in a clever way and the song end up feeling fresh just the same with a good hook and melody. "More Then Friends" is on the other side of Neo-Soul with more laidback sound with blues riffs closer to John Legend then Lauryn Hill. It's still a decent song and it's fun to see her sing both catchy uptempo hits and slower more artistic things. "Magnificient" feature dancehall singer Kardinal Ofishall and not too surprisingly it's a caribbean flavoured song, simular to Rihanna's "If It's Lovin' That You Want". "Come Over" got a simular feeling with caribbean inspired sound but it's a semi-ballad.

"So Much Out the Way" was produced by Wyclef Jean and here we find Estelle rapping for most of the part and further proves her versatility. "In The Rain" is more of the catchy retro sounding uptempo that she does best. Infact this is one of the best songs. "Back in Love" is one again a mellow ballad. Finally John Legend joins her on the duet "You Are" which is a really fine ballad that alot of people shall enjoy. Another interesting duet is with Gnarls Barkley singer Cee-Lo which sounds like a play on a old motown song. This song is excellent aswell. Closer is the title track which was produced by Swizz Beatz, it's actually not his usual uptempo with whistles and crowd chants but a midtempo with good beats and hook where Estelle both sings and rap. Good way to end the album.

Overall, "Shine" is one of the best R&B/Soul albums of the year, and it may sound strange that it comes from a British singer. Estelle is able to combine artistry with commercial appeal and the productions here is excellent with both catchy uptempos and slower John Legend style ballads. If you liked Lauryn Hill and can't understand why she never dropped a sequal to The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill check out this album from Estelle that resemble Hill quite alot. I'm sure we're gonna hear alot more of her in the future. 4/5 stars.

5 out of 5 stars

Soul Amazing!!!! May 5, 2008
4 out of 4 found this review helpful

I work for a company that regularly recieves CDs from new and upcomming artist. Most aren't worth the shrink wrap and postage they came in, but by the third track of "Shine" I was ripping the CD to put it on my MP3 player. Estelle's voice and sound are reminiscent of Lauren Hill's "Miseducation" but it's certainly no copy cat. The LP is well produced and creates an incredible mix of generes (a little hip-hop, soul, jazz, and reggae). I got my copy for free, and I just bought one for a friend. Estelle is definitely soul sincere!

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