'Introducing Joss Stone' Review • Introducing...Joss Stone

Introducing Joss Stone album cover. Introducing Joss Stone is 'who I [Joss] am as an artist' (www.harpmagazine.com), containing tracks such as the acclaimed Music, featuring Lauryn Hill. Whilst the album does feel overly-indulgent at points (Joss herself was executive producer of the album), the album has a refreshing sound throughout.

Change

Featuring Vinnie Jones, Change the 35 second long introductory track is a taste of some of the cliché to come - this track is sure to cause some to cringe in its smugness.

Girl They Won't Believe It

Girl They Won't Believe It is a vast improvement on the opening, with its summery, catchy beat, is reasonably likely to get caught in your head.

Headturner

Introducing Joss Stone's third track, Headturner, is another retro-sounding track, with average-y verses but a pretty catchy chorus, even if the American 'twang' in her pronunciation could get irritating at some point.

Tell Me 'Bout It

Tell Me 'Bout It, the first single to be released from Introducing Joss Stone is definitely an obvious single on the album, more likely to appeal to a wider audience whilst still allow Joss to retain her flair and talent without mindlessly editing it out during production. A perhaps more 'raunchy' song than most of her previous work, Tell Me 'Bout it may not be Joss at her best, but it is certainly one of the better tracks of the album.

Tell Me What We're Gonna Do Now

Tell Me What We're Gonna Do Now, featuring Common, is the second single to be released from the album, another track which allows Stone to retain her unique style whilst not alienating those who find her voice over-powering. A very catchy chorus and a refreshing love-inducing rap from Common which doesn't reference guns or drugs once is also present in Tell Me What, and whilst it doesn't enhance the song drastically, it doesn't do it any damage, either.

Put Your Hands On Me

Put Your Hands On Me is a retro-style track with a memorable chorus and beautifully crafted verses, and the ability for Stone to let her incredible voice rip on her audience fully.

Music

Music, featuring Lauryn Hill, whilst widely acclaimed as one of the better tracks on Introducing Joss, feels mundane against the backdrop of the funky, retro sounds of the other tracks on the album, with its chorus hardly matching the likes of Arms Of My Baby or Put Your Hands On Me.

The more observant listener will notice the reuse of a tranquil piece played during Hill's interlude in Music Outro.

Arms Of My Baby

Arms Of My Baby is Joss at her best, with a soulful and yet funky beat and thoughtful, mellow lyrics.

Bad Habit

Bad Habit is another track which fells underwhelming in the presence of the others, with simplistic lyrics and an uninspired back beat.

Proper Nice

Proper Nice is a mellow, relaxing track from Introducing Joss Stone, and whilst it does not, perhaps, showcase Stone's full vocal ability, it certainly deserves its place on the album, seemlessly flowing between Bad Habit and Bruised But Not Broken.

Bruised But Not Broken

Bruised But Not Broken and What Were We Thinking form the ballads of Introducing Joss, in much the same vein as Mind, Body & Soul's Spoiled. Bruised But Not Broken is the tranquil track you'd expect towards the end of an album and yet, whilst predictable, it's still a fantastic track.

Baby Baby Baby

Baby Baby Baby is another song along the retro lines of Headturner and Put Your Hands On Me, but it is by no means same-y, with a distinctive, soothing chorus and well-crafted verses.

What Were We Thinking

What Were We Thinking is another ballad of the album, with a string-based melody which is both soothing and, in places, uplifting. The lyrics are, again, beautifully crafted, and yet exactly what you would expect from such a song.

Music Outro

Music Outro is a bonus track on the UK edition of Introducing Joss, with beats from Music and a foot-tap-inducing sequence towards the end.

Introducing Joss Stone - Summary

Whilst over-indulgent in places, Introducing Joss Stone is a refreshing, surprising album throughout, and whilst a few average tracks let it down, it is well worth purchasing for the catchy choruses of Tell Me What We're Gonna Do Now and Baby Baby Baby, and the long, rousing lyrics of What Were We Thinking.