Last year I reviewed Staten island's finest soul belter Suzanne Real's debut album, the terrific Kiss me Like A Man –a snap shot of aggressive r&b with various former members of the Shirts (yes, Annie Golden's Shirts!) playing back up.
I loved that album but started the review with a coupla playful cheap shots and got the ire of the Real in return. Once bitten, twice shy so let me start this review by stating that Suzanne looks great, sounds great, acts well and the video for the title track is a soap opera music video and really really good.
Now I've got that out of the way, both the song and the video are a little on the different side. They are about desire postponed if not indeed thwarted entirely (till the very end) and while I guess it was always so as far as the lyric goes, in at least once sense, the coolness comes across as a provocation and Real's vocals have an unrestrained restriction (if you see what i mean) to them. The vocal release is like an early Presleyism, it is all subjugated desire with a suggestion of, gasp, impotence.
The video itself is beautiful. The heat of desire is buried in the yellow frame of a hotel room and Suzanne, stuck in the corner of a window, is like a neon lit stop sign. I dunno about Real, but I wanna shake the bearded guy who isn't kissing her properly very gently by the throat as he lets Real slip through his fingers. And though the happy ending feels like a bit of a cop out, it is fun to watch any how.
So, yeah I am scared of the Real deal but I loved it anyway
Grade: B+