Search - Shontelle :: Shontelligence

A pretty good album with some shining moments.

W. E. Phillips | USA | 11/18/2008

(3 out of 5 stars)

"No one--and I mean no one--expected Rihanna to blow up the way she did. When she first came out, I got a huge belly-laugh out of the fact that she signed a six-album contract, which is pretty much unheard of for even the most established performer. I guess Jay-Z and Rihanna are the ones laughing now. So I suppose it's inevitable that Shontelle, another young Bajan woman, would want to try and follow in Rihanna's footsteps. But Shontelligence seems to blatantly steal the formula from her role model's debut album, Music of the Sun, which wasn't much of a success, anyway: Shontelle wants to be a pop star, but she doesn't want to forget about her Barbados roots... or at least until she reaches the pop stratosphere, at which point she can leave her origins behind, just like Rihanna did so drastically did with her third and most successful album.



Shontelle is far more talented than Rihanna, no doubt, especially in the vocal department. This helps even some of the most bland material here become a little bit more enjoyable. But there are quite a few moments on this debut that can't really be saved. Shontelle's problem, as mentioned before, is that she is torn between pop and the island, which sometimes makes it sound like the album is performed by two completely different people. On the pop tracks, like the beautifully crafted "T-Shirt" and the dismal "Superwoman," her voice is a smooth, glossy, and girly soprano that makes her sound just like a natural-born American citizen. And then, there are the more reggae-influenced tracks--accompanied with some borderline-pretentious lyrics, especially coming from a 23 year old--like "Life Is Not An Easy Road" and "Flesh and Bone," where her voice is considerably deeper, more forceful, and her accent is incredibly present. Her best moments on the album are where she is not putting herself in a specific box. "Cold Cold Summer" is a great, slow-burning post-breakup jam full of charisma and true emotion, backed by some beautifully dynamic orchestration. "Battle Cry" is a joyous and hopeful ode to a good friend. "Ghetto Lullabye" has very interesting jungle-inspired production and her first single "Roll It," which failed to chart in the US for some reason, is danceable, energetic and probably one of her most genuine tracks. Another problem is the sequencing: the most underwhelming tracks, like "Plastic People" and "I Crave You," are consolidated at the end, providing a very uneven listen. Plus, the album is quite short... only 11 tracks and 40 minutes. Shontelligence is uneven and doesn't necessarily show us who the true Shontelle is; however, there are still a handful of excellent tracks ("Summer," "T-Shirt," "Roll," "Battle" "Ghetto") that make this debut worthwhile and decent."

Fantastic Sophomore Album From A Bajan Beauty!

Timothy D. Taylor | Mesa, AZ | 01/02/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I grew up in the 80s, but listen to a variety of music these days, except Rap. Was just flipping through the radio stations one day at lunch and came across this song and for whatever reason, just left the tuner on the station playing "T-Shirt". Didn't know who it was when I heard it, but thought it was catchy. They played "Womanizer" afterwards by Britney Spears, but I sought out the info on "T-Shirt" on the web and got curious about this new Bajan singer, Shontelle. I went to iTunes and bought the music video for "T-Shirt" and really enjoyed the song. After I listened to the samples, I thought, "Wow, this gal has some really catchy songs!" I went ahead and ordered the CD and I am really glad I did. I like every song on the CD, although "Plastic People" is probably the weakest link and even it is still pretty enjoyable. I hope that she eventually does another music video, perhaps for "Roll It" as I would definitely buy it on iTunes. Curious though how she transitions between mainstream voice on some songs only to switch over to island dialect on other songs. I think her true voice is simply the normal mainstream, but I enjoy her mixing in her heritage into these other catchy tracks! Keep up the great work, Shontelle! You are a gorgeous, highly talented Bajan queen and your fans love ya!"

I hope Shontelle gets her big break!

J. Grzebien | 02/24/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"When I heard T-Shirt I was like damn, this girl is hot. Then I heard Battle Cry and I was like OKAY I'm seeing if she has an album! And sure enough she had one coming out so I pre-ordered it and I'm so happy I did.

She chops and changes between her basian accent and Americanized accent--but nonetheless the album is hot.

I love Battly Cry, Superwoman, Cold Cold Summer and I Crave You as her more American sounding tracks...they are all so good. And then with her more reggae sounding tracks ROLL IT is one for the club for sure! And Life is Not An Easy Road and Focus Pon Me are awesome songs too. Plastic People, Flesh & Bone and Ghetto Lullabye also serve a purpose in sending out a message which I love in songs. The ONLY disappointment is that its a meagre number of tracks, but the album is completely worth the money and I hope she endeavours to bring out an even better, 16 track album SOON! I want more Shontelle!"