Spins: Album reviews

Adriana Evans – Nomadic

Artist: Adriana Evans
Title: Nomadic
Label: Animated Cartunes
Genre: Soul

As you listen to Nomadic you get the feeling that Adriana Evans is doing her best to give you a piece of her life influences in the most authentic way possible. You see while a lot of soul singers have just recently put down their mpc’s and samplers, Adriana made this musical excursion more the 7 years ago. Using the kind of instrumentation that has been once again made common place in the soul scene, it’s her voice that is the glue on this trip through her many moods and experiences.

While this album may disappoint if you’re looking for a copy of her first album, if you’ve been enjoying soul’s recent affinity towards picking up a guitar, piano, drum set and a great voice you’ll love what you hear on this album. “7 days”, the lead single, exemplifies the sound of this album. While the soul in Adriana’s voice cuts through, the infusion of rock and afro-cuban rhythms and instrumentation let you in on why this album is called Nomadic. The second track on the album “Remember The Love” is a Latin infused ode to summer love and on “Night In Bahia” the Latin influence shows up in the title more than the music. Be warned, you shouldn’t settle in to the Latin sound or you’ll be thrown by reggae tracks like “I Had A Dream” and “Former Self”. While this album seems to take you on trips to Jamaica and Latin America, the urban centers and classic soul sound of the states is not missed.

Listening to Nomadic is truly what the name implies, a journey that will not let you stay in the same place very much or for very long. While this album is a re-issue it shows how far ahead of the curve Adriana Evans is when deciding on the sound for her albums.

- Rai-mon Nemar

www.myspace.com/nomadicalbum
www.animatedcartunes.com

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