Reviewed by Tony Cummings

Having long been an admirer of the R&B singer who electrified the American Idol audience in 2007 and subsequently delivered one of the catchiest pieces of modern R&B ever with the million selling "No Air", I'd been looking forward to Jordin's latest (this is only her third album in eight years). But I have to say 'Right Here Right Now' left me bitterly disappointed. and saddened. Why saddened? Because it's clear that the singer's years in the showbiz mainstream have left their mark on Jordin. At the start she had the heartening support of her church in Phoenix, Arizona and was saying things in interviews like "my faith has been a humongous part of how I have looked at my career." Eight years on finds Jordin recording songs where she promises sexual arousal to partner ("Work From Home") and the allurement of Instagram enticement ("Double Tap"). The funky, neo-hip-hop production on the album is consistently good and guests like Elijah Blake and Shaggy bring plenty of vocal variation particularly on the reggae-flavoured "Casual Love". But the latter song with its lyrical insistence that Jordan doesn't want to be a casual fling is completely contradicted in the boastful "It Ain't You" - a dissing rant at prowling would-be-seducers which invokes the sisterhood ("This is a call for all my ladies/All those fellows in the songs f***ing crazy"). One reviewer suggested that the song offered "some joy. with lines like 'You're not an OG (original gangster) you're an OMG (oh my god)." But it didn't bring me any joy. For decades now, church-raised singers have been enticed away to abandon their Christian lifestyle to follow the money of mainstream showbiz. So it shouldn't be too much of a surprise that Jordin has "done a Beyonce". But it's always a sad spectacle nonetheless.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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