I'm Diggin It
Though the smoky alto of this Muscle Shoals native is rich with promise, the debut album by 17-year-old Alecia Elliott suffers from a split personality. Much of the selection is diva-esque balladry, with the Titanic-sized emoting of "I'm Waiting for You" and "That's the Only Way" making Elliott sound old beyond her years. Some of the rest is kid's stuff, from the cloying social conscience of "I Don't Understand" to the perky funk of the title hit to theShania-in-training "You Wanna What?" (one of two songs on the album that Elliott helped write). Yet, on the album-opening "Some People Fall, Some People Fly"--cowritten and previously recorded byMatraca Berg-- Elliott shows how she can soar with a song that suits her.--Don McLeese