TIFFANY EVANS: TIFFANY EVANS [ALBUM REVIEW]....

New artist Tiffany Evans finally unveiled her self-titled debut album via Sony Music/Columbia Records last week. The promo surrounding it has been virtually non-existent causing the sad prospect of a glorified talent to end up going unnoticed and becoming nothing more than a meaningless entity brushed and swept underneath the rug. The album sees polished production from the likes of The Clutch, Beau Dozier, Rodney 'Darkchild' Jerkins, Cristyle 'The Ink' Johnson, Soulshock & Karlin and Ne-yo. The project opens up with the joint About A Boy, with The Clutch on writing duties. The midtempo cut engages you with it's melodious guitar riffs. When Tiffany recorded this album, she was under 15 so I find it completely out of realm that she'd be getting all sad and depressed over a boy who wasn't into her as much: "this one's about a boy, I used to love" she stresses "no happy endings". In the gutsy Again, she questions whether she can "fall in love again".

At 15, Tiff is waaay too young to even know anything about love, let alone experience it. The heartbreak and relationship fears goes even further on tracks such as Can't Walk Away infiltrated by an electronically-powered keyboard throughout the chorus and the contemporary R&B track Favorite Broken Heart, which surprisingly is quite upbeat, and not quite the slushy tear-stained track you'd expect. Both tracks were crafted by Beau Dozier. What on earth happened to worrying about exams, homework, acne and whatever else most girls her age get themselves in a tizzy over? Then again, times are changing now when little girls are growing up a lot faster than they should. Tiffany heavily emphasises this on the infectiously Darkchild-produced I'm Grown, which opens up with that pounding drum beat. The song features Bow Wow funnily enough. Tiff croons "I'm grown now, I got my own money!" That line is definitely subjective, when there's so many things she can't do to validate that grown-status.

I wonder what her mother thinks of the overly mature lyrics that the album imposes. On a defensive note, at least she's not talking about sex, but she's one record away from doing just that. On the very upbeat dance-driven 'Promise Ring' (The Clutch) which features her idol Ciara, the song is more on level of what Tiffany should be engaging; rocking promise rings which is an ode to a young girl's childhood. Tiff models herself after Ciara quite a lot when Tiff is the one who could be teaching Cici a thing or two. To prove this point Tiff heavily puts Ciara to vocal shame on the track. Tiff's vocal range is reflected to great capacity on the gospel-tinged Angels On Earth, where she basically takes you to church and instantly empowers you with that stunning 20-second note. You almost forget she's 15 with her extraordinarily-mature vocal delivery. On the track, she's backed by a choir and it emphasises being faced with trouble or encountering an intense moment, and having an angel to help you out in the most compromising of situations. A track which has Granny-approval stamped all over it.

The Clutch produced Girl Gone Wild is wildly fierce but has a completely different mood. She is catechizing another school girl for dressing up too provocatively and "impersonating grown folks"; the type of wild chick that the other girls should feel threatened by should she come into contact with their boyfriends. I love this one, and her swagger on the track is just brilliant and packs attitude. The retro-fitted R&B-pop cut Impossible was written by Ne-yo and it addresses the haters where she defiantly sings "doubt me, I want you to" because she has that faith in herself and she's determined to prove the naysayers wrong. The aggressive beat adds to the war-like tone of the song. Another track Tiff excels on is the very old-skool Thinkin' About (Soulshock & Karlin) and without a doubt, it's one of the most soulful offerings on the CD.

Lay Back And Chill is a contagious uptempo heavy hitting club joint which sees the vocal teen express what is required from a boy in order for him to get into her good books. The track provides that hotness, and it's just mad infectious. Sounds like something Cassie would do. I just love the overall vibe of the song. Standouts on the album would be I'm Grown, Again, Lay Back And Chill, Girl Gone Wild and Favourite Broken Heart. Vocally, she had a few off-standish moments but the girl clearly has a set of pipes on her and with the right promo she could be huge. Her voice is very powerful and once she can exercise her vocal prowess to bigger and better challenges, she can become a phenomenon. Overall, this was a pretty solid debut.

Rating: 3/5