J-BELLA – All For Nothin

Three 2 Go 2017

J-BELLA –
All For Nothin

From breakup to triumph, young Buffalo artist rises up to shine.

Jessica Bell may have been singing for the most of her life, off- and onstage, yet it took her a heartbreak to transform into the performer who can write a tune for everyone to relate to and join in. Dealing mostly in soul, J-Bella harbors more than that, and though the cuts on the artist’s mini-album debut demonstrate piano-driven R&B edge of various stripe – “Shine” appearing in three mixes, each given a distinctive mood – Celtic vibe of “Game” has the piece’s groove wrapped in a peculiar promise, pierced with a short sax solo and given a guitar etching.

There are luxurious ballads looming large in the sparse, if seductive, title track and “I Choose You” before its orchestral portent opens the whole delicate depth of the singer’s voice, entwined in a duet with Roger Gossom, while the spiritual choir behind “Haters” is a foldout of the number’s a cappella beginning. So however dry “Up Down” may sound, J-Bella’s almost-screams display nuclear feelings under the track’s surface: take this tension to a next level, which a full-fledged record will be, and we can witness a hitmaker’s advent now.

***3/4

May 29, 2017