AverySunshine - AverySunshine

May 22, 2010
Posted by Musicman
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Combining beautifully soulful melodies, with a touch of jazz and more than a little earthy gospel, Atlanta songstress Avery*Sunshine sounds like a veteran musician with several albums worth of material under her belt. So, it may come as a surprise to some that this is, in fact, her debut album. Not that she is a stranger to the music business, on the contrary, she is a choral director of 2 choirs, she lent her voice to the movie soundtrack for ‘The Fighting Temptations’ and she worked on the touring production of ‘Dream Girls’. She can count musical legends such as Chaka Khan and Roy Ayers (check out the ‘Everybody Loves’ interlude) amongst her fans, and has worked at length with producer Dana Johnson who co-wrote and co-produced many tracks on India.Arie’s Voyage To India.

The album opens with the wonderful ‘All In My Head’ with Ms Sunshine pointing out that we can all be our own worst enemy at times. The track deals with insecurity, doubt and confusion but rather than sounding depressing or melancholy, she puts a bright, almost upbeat spin on the subject matter. ‘Today’ is a track that everyone will be able to relate too, opening with the line “Today, nothin seems to be going my way. Trying to keep my sanity is getting the best of me”. As she reels off a list of problems including a baby-father acting up, car troubles and a nightmare boss, you begin to get the impression that this album is on a bit of a ‘downer’, yet her smooth, jazzy vocals, and accomplished rhodes-playing make it a compelling listen.