Tasmin Archer - Great Expectations (1992) 320kbps

Daughter of working-class Jamaica-to-England transplants, Tasmin Archer has a terrific voice--a soprano with plenty of power even in the lower gears of the conversational verses but capable of erupting on the choruses into a siren wails that can sustain of single syllables as long as she wants. When she grabs hold of a juicy melody, as she does on "Arienne" (a transparent rewrite of the Hollies' "Carrie- Anne"), she sounds like Annie Lennox against the synth-pop backing. Unfortunately, Archer's songwriting partners are isn't not Dave Stewart but guitarist John Hughes and keyboardist John Beck, who have none of the Eurythmics' knack for hooks and humor. Instead Archer is handed 11 very somber tunes with lyrics that circle serious issues like ecology, women's rights, and class injustice without ever quite grabbing hold of them. --Geoffrey Himes