Fortune Cookies
With her new album,Fortune Cookies, folk-soul songstress Alana Davis only improves on the skills and versatility glimpsed on her 1997 debut,Blame It on Me. The lead single, "I Want You," seems destined for Top 40 radio, with its universal lyrics of longing and pop-rock guitar and bass lines. The Neptunes-produced "Bye Bye" has a hip-hop beat, wah-wah guitar, and a delicious groove, bringing out theMary J. Bligein Davis's warm, richEdie Brickellvibe. Davis also remakes theWhodiniclassic "How Many of Us Have Them (Friends)," combining early-rap scratches with a jangly acoustic guitar. Davis's infinitely adaptable voice soars and growls on the self-penned "A Chance with You" and purrs on the reggae-influenced "Got This Far." Davis can't be pigeonholed into any particular genre of music--she's got a style and flair all her own, and she's released one of the strongest, most beautiful, and most complex albums of the year.--Courtney Kemp