Revival

by Matthew ChislingFollowing the commercial and critical failure of her debut disc, This Is Me, Canadian R&B songstress Jully Black fought back in order to make herself a household name. Even with nobody thinking she would amount to anything, her label, Universal Records, decided to give her one more chance. However, they knew that promoting Black as an R&B/reggae artist wouldn't work again, so they opted for something different. Blending Mary J. Blige with some Amy Winehouse and some Kelly Rowland, they re-formed the moldable Black into Canada's answer to the three of them. Revival, the title of the sophomore struggle from Black, flashes with dazzling tinges of grooving soul and a heavy layer of pure, crisp R&B. The results are much better this time around, as Revival is a very strong showing of what Jully Black can truly offer. Every track is better than anything on her debut, and songs like "Wishing" could find themselves on Mary J. Blige's newest release Growing Pains. The music is so refreshing and so wonderful to hear coming from Black, a true musical underdog, that the strong tracks amplify themselves into real hits. The doo wop horns and beats are seen with a perfect proportion of modern beats, and the vocals are stronger this time around; Black has improved as a singer. In addition, she has improved as a songwriter. Black still has writing credits all the way through, with the exception of her cover of the Ella Fitzgerald track "Seven Day Fool." However because the writing on the tracks is stronger, the quality of the music skyrockets in quality. There are a couple of missteps, such as the angry "Temporary Insanity," but the faulty tracks are rather, pardon the pun, temporary. "Queen" is a powerful anthem of personal love and appreciation, and really shows us just how strong Black can be as an artist, while "Seven Day Fool" is a wonderful cover on which the singer manages to maintain the dignity of the song while making it truly her own. "Mystery" is just stunning; it leads the listener to reminisce about the '90s R&B queens like Whitney Houston who, through artistic individuality and great voices, shimmered. On Revival, we see so many sides of a truly multi-dimensional Black who, thanks to more than a decade of struggle and failure, releases a powerful showing of delicious Rhythm & Blues to her fans and leaves them coming back for more. Black has improved in every aspect, and establishes herself as a truly credible R&B Canadian diva who deserves heaps of praise and success; Canada, you've found your Mary J.