Delilah – From The Roots Up

Fresh and freaky, Delilah damn sure has a style of her own. Her debut, From The Roots Up, offers exceptional vocal delivery, outstanding productions and some really delightful fantasies. With her sultry, smoky voice backed by organic, atmospheric beats, Delilah perfected the art of reinterpretation as well as mind-sex.

“Go,” a “genius” (according to Chaka Khan) cover of Ms. Khan’s “Ain’t Nobody,” is so damn seductive, especially the way she moans the chorus: “All the things you do / You make me wanna go ooh.” She also turns Minnie Riperton’s “Inside My Love” into a booty call by leaving off the last part of the hook. So when she begs, “You can see inside me / Will you come inside me / Do you wanna ride,” the only response to that is: fuck yeah!

The most heartfelt track on the album has to be “Tabitha, Mummy and Me,” a dedication to Delilah’s father in which she sings out her soul with just the piano accompaniment. She is also convincing when singing about heartbreak on “Shades of Grey.” Actually, From The Roots Up is the record that I have been wanted to hear since Kanye West dropped his groundbreaking 808s & Heartbreak. West’s trip-hop productions were hypnotizing, but his Auto-Tuned vocals weren’t so much. Like 808s, this album has that quality beats as well as real vocals to go with.