Album review: Brandy - Human

After a 6 year hiatus, hitting the tabloids about her fake-ass marriage, her brothers' sex tape hitting the Internet and being involved in a motoring incident which took a woman's life; Brandy is back with her fifth studio album. You'd think this would make for her dreariest offering yet, but it's not. In full of optimism.

Human lays Brandy bare. Not only sonically, but lyrically. The album is full of songs about falling in love, falling out of love, loss, imperfections and things which means the most to you. It's definitely her most introspective album yet, which is evident from the word go with the call-for -love song "Warm it up (with love)" . My favourite track on the album, hands down. Every time I listen to it I get chills. And when the bridge takes off and the bass line and additional synths kick in, I just get lost in the song completely. Brandy's vocals are pristine, providing both the main melody as well as the musical backdrop for the song. The low note she hits on 'Everybody locks that door' gets rewound each time. I cannot say enough good things about this song. I love it to pieces. Brandy and Rodney Jerkins were definitely on their A-game on this song. Beautiful lyrics, beautiful vocal performance and beautiful arrangements.

Whilst Brandy doesn't re-invent the wheel with any of the sounds she dabbles in on this album, she does work styles she hasn't before. "Piano man" is not only a good song, but a great Brandy and Rodney Jerkins moment. The line ''Do you have a request book handy, I could flick though?' 'I do'. He said: 'My name is Rodney, good to meet you!'" was a nice touch. Brandy always showed some form of love and admiration for Rodney and his craft in interludes on her Never say never and Full moon album, but on this occasion she did it in song, which was really neat. Epic records need to make this single number three. Brandy get props for switching up on this song, for some which feels on trend, without it feeling like she's changing her style to fit it. "Camouflage" is a beautiful anthemic song with a country like twang to it; giving the song a Tracy Chapman-esque vibe. The message of the song is one which can resonate with everyone and Brandy's heart felt vocals and Rodney Jerkins stellar production make this a winner every which way. "Human" is the centrepiece of the album. Brandy's vocals sound stunning and she hits notes and does things vocally that she's never done before. Toby Gad did a great job with the production and it's a wonderfully uplifting song, fitting for Brandy given her ordeals over the past couple of years.

"A capella (Something's missing)" is Brandy showing off why she is the illest in the game when it comes to vocal arrangements. As the title states, it's performed a capella with minimal instrumentation. The most shocking thing is that Brandy is actually holding back on this song. Those of you who have heard Afrodisiac's "Should I go" and "Finally" know that Brandy can really go all the places with her harmonies. Still, this is a great song that makes me smile every time I listen to it. "1st and love" is a nice song. There aren't that many changes between the leaked / un-mastered version and the final album version, but it does sound tighter and Brandy throws in some additional vocals. "Fall" is the song that everybody loved when it first leaked and whilst it's still a great song, I'm torn as to if the album version is better overall. The music itself sounds much more complete and Brandy's backing vocals are tighter. But her lead vocals don't sound as raw as they did on the leaked version. There were many riffs and notes she hit on the leaked version which she ducks out of on the final version, and as a result she sounds more sedate. I prefer the musical arrangements of the album version, but the leaked version gets my vote purely because Brandy sounded better on it. As a cool touch, Brandy drops the chorus to "Camouflage" a capella at the end and her vocals sound so rich unplugged that it makes you wish she'd done a whole song this way and do more live gigs.

Not all of the songs are hits on the target though. "Shattered heart" feels odd and it's difficult to catch the melody and bounce of it, because it's so off-kilter. It also feels like Rodney Jerkins was trying to mimic Nelly Furtado's "Say my name" a little too much. Those who had heard the leaked song "After the flood" will also notice similarities between it and "Shattered heart". The sounds used, the chord changes and some of the drums are exactly the same. But I personally feel that "After the flood" was a better song. "True" also feels under-produced and Brandy's vocals are uncharacteristically shaky. The song isn't terrible, but it's skippable. This could've been that big ballad for Brandy. And despite a beautifully arranged bridge section which elevates the song, it still doesn't take off like it should. With some re-arrangements this could be a great song. But as it is, it just feels lacklustre. Album opener "The definition" borders on awful. It sounds outdated and wasn't the best way to kick off the album. Brandy usually serves up strong album openers, but not here. The song should have been left off of the album, with "Warm it up (with love)" or "Right here (Departed)" being the opening song.

Human is a good album, but a little underwhelming as a whole. Full moon and Afrodisiac were sonically interesting albums because the primary producers took Brandy in a completely different direction and gave her some of their best work in exchange for Brandy giving them her best vocal performances. Human feels much more stripped down and lacking. In all honesty, if some of the songs on Human were given to any other artist they wouldn't be anything but a drop in the ocean. It's Brandy's confidence and honesty which makes this album shine more than anything. Where-as Full moon had Brandy making that awkward transition from teen star to woman, and Afrodisiac occasionally had her coming off as trying to be too hood and sexy, Human has Brandy sounding like a strong, confident woman who gets life that bit better than she did before. She sounds content and assured. Brilliantly, Brandy chose not to conform and hop on bandwagons, which is to be commended in a game where bandwagoning seems to be all the rage. Brandy stays in her own lane from start to finish and it's refreshing.

Human is by no means a bad album. There isn't a flat out rubbish song on it. But I feel Full moon and Afrodisiac were much fulfilling albums after a 4 year wait. Where-as with Human, I'm left thinking 'Is this what I waited almost 5 years for!?' and I'm conflicted between feelings of joy and slight disappointment. Fans will like this album and be content with it because it features decent new material from Brandy and it's always a joy to hear anything from her because of how great a singer she is. But this album lacks the 'wow' factor to win over new fans who haven't been interested in her up until now.

VERDICT: Darkchild

Album highlights:
■ Warm it up (With love) 🏆
■ Right here (Departed) 🔥
■ Piano man
■ Long distance
■ Torn down 🔥
■ Human
■ True
■ A capella (Something's missing)
■ 1st and love
■ Fall