Don’t know much about Mr. Uné, save that his name’s pronounced ‘You Nay’, that his record label’s based in Pasadena and that he possesses a fine smooth soul voice – reminiscent of Dennis Taylor (now what’s happened to him?). To hear Uné’s voice in full flow go to the LP’s closer, the gospel-tinged acapella song ‘I Won’t Complain’ – you’ll be left in no doubt about the man’s vocal prowess. But it’s a fact of the music biz that to score the hits and achieve album sales, artists need more than a decent voice. I know it’s obvious, but good songs and sympathetic productions are essential, and sadly on this set there just aren’t too many good songs, while too many of the productions are built around drum programmes and synthetic instrumentation. To compound matters, Uné’s people seem to be confused as to whether he’s a full on soul man or an R&B contender. ‘Hit Da Shaw’ for instance is formulaic ‘get your party on’ R&B complete with limp rapping, while stuff like ‘Baby Stop Frontin’ and ‘I Really Love You’ are dreary teen ballads of the type you associate with Mario or Chris Brown. That said, the opener ‘I Can’t Remember’ is a half-decent modern soul tune – but some might find it repetitive, while ‘One More Time’ is OK – but lacks imagination – how many tunes, for instance, start with a breathy phone conversation and lyrically we’re going over the same old clichés… pity really ‘cos like I said up top Uné has a great voice. If you want to find out more go to www.soulchoonz.com
(BB) 3/5
