
KEKE WYATT is something of a music biz veteran though in recent years she’s diversified somewhat. Now she’s a rated actress, reality show star and social media personality. Last year, though, she returned to what she says is her first love – music. She released a new single a crisp beater, ‘Water Into Wine’. We we’re told then (August ’23) that there was an album on the way!
Well that album’s just won release via Shanachie and it’s ‘Certified’. The title track was released as a taster in June and it’s a broody outing that like ‘Water Into Wine’ sits sweetly on the cusp of contemporary soul and modern R&B. Indeed that’s the feel of the whole album. Keke has a soul background and she sings with passion but the overall vibe is contemporary R&B. The exception is a maybe surprising version of ‘Unchained Melody’ , chosen I’m guessing, to show the purity and power of Keke’s vocal range.
Elsewhere, ‘She’ is slinky and smooth in a sort of Sade way (the lyric actually references ‘Smooth Operator’) . The set’s biggest dancer is ‘Scared’ – just a hint of the Caribbean about this one while ‘Open’ offers some doo-wop “bop shoo bops” but overall the 10 tracker that is ‘Certified’ will appeal more to the R&B crowd than the old school soul gang.
Out now via Shanachie.