Me’Shell Ndegéocello – Devils Halo : Album Review

Ten time Grammy nominee Me’Shell Ndegéocello’s 8^th studio album Devils Halo arrives on the 6^th of March. It’s a musical force, but unfortunately, one that cannot decide which angle it truly wants to be approached from.

Opening tracks Slaughter and The One On appear out of place in the albums arrangement. They blare themes of love, betrayal and pain through a funk vibe, but I feel they could have been placed somewhere else in the album, and not as opening tracks.

The instrumentals are fantastic, but Me’Shell’s voice is drowned out in Slaughter. Tie One On is a bit too slow for my liking – it takes well over a minute before anything  exciting occurs. Me’Shell’s small vocal contributions are still drowned out by the instrumentals. It’s unfortunate that space filler is evident very early on in an album with so much promise.

Thankfully, the pace, mood, and Me’Shell’s voice all pick up at once in Lola, a wonderfully funky track which makes excellent use of bass, guitar and keyboard, intrinsically melding all three instruments into a tune that compliments Me’Shell’s voice.

At last, the album begins to take a hold. Short track Hair of the Dog clocks in at 1:42 minutes long, but allows for a small break before Mass Transit begins. It’s catchy, and makes good use of synthesisers, and fast paced drumming. Unfortunately, the style is a bit loose, and the backing vocals are completely unneeded.  If only Me’Shell would project her voice more, it would complement the track immensely.

White Girl includes a very interesting bass line, but it runs about 10 seconds too long. I can’t help but once again complain about Me’Shell’s vocals, she just doesn’t project her voice. I know she is a soul singer, but it hurts the album when it’s hard to distinguish what Me’Shell is even saying through her lyrics. The song begins to wind down, and I feel a bit lost as to what it was even about.

Love You Down is the longest track on the album, at 5:22 minutes too long. Once again, it pains me to say that Me’Shell’s voice is repetitive, bland, boring and her lyrics atrocious. It’s actually a disappointment, how up and down this album is. In terms of instrumentals, it’s a fine piece of work. But every time Me’Shell ‘sings’ I feel like turning down the CD.

Title track Devils Halo is barely recognisable as a song, it’s once again a space filler. Bright Shiny Morning marks the return of good vocals, but unfortunately it’s still a repetitive overdrawn bore. Blood on the Curb has the potential to save the album, but it’s way too late to make an impact. Still, it is refreshing to see something a bit paced and thought out, unlike many of the other similar sounding tracks on the album.

Out of place keyboard synthesisers ruin any possibility of Die Young making an impact. The lyrics are atrocious “I hope you all die young” being the first thing the listener hears. Lovely, but no thanks. The guitar playing is the one saving grace in this song, when it briefly makes its appearance.

Crying In Your Beer makes beautiful work of banjos, vocals, guitar and overall atmosphere. Unfortunately, it is way too late, being the last song on the album. I can finally understand what Me’Shell is actually saying, but at this point, I don’t care too much for what that is exactly. If she broadened her vocals, style and tried to make an impact on the listener, it could have been a successful album. Instead, its generic all round and an absolute bore.

Admittedly, I approached Devils Halo with uncertainty. The whole album is all over the place in terms of sound and style, but only two tracks are standouts, which include Lola and Crying In Your Beer. Devils Halo is simple what I would refer to as a Borders Books CD, or dinner party material, in that it’s played quietly in the background, and isn’t given a second thought. This is unfortunate given that there was potential at points to make a great record here.

At best, various tracks could have been severely cut, and Devils Halo could have made an acceptable three to four track EP.