Amerie, Because I Love It

It would be no exaggeration to call Amerie one of the greatest singers in pop music. Her vocal performances are extraordinary: she catches the fleeting thrills and momentary rushes of intensity that permeate otherwise mundane days, and stretches those feelings out across four-minute songs without ever letting up. Every word is delivered as if she is utterly consumed in the moment; the result is heady and intoxicating. On her third album - her first without long-time producer Rich Harrison - she uses that voice to full effect on her most consistently excellent set of songs to date. Take Control is a perfect example: it twitches and jerks along a nagging Tom Zé sample, but it's a song with such a sparse arrangement that interest has to be sustained entirely by the voice, which Amerie does spectacularly, making it absolutely clear who is really cracking the whip. Elsewhere, Some Like It kicks off with the couplet, "Whatcha gon' do when A catches an attitude? Drop to your knees and show gratitude", and manages to get even better, while the Supremes chug of Make Me Believe and the crunk frenzy of Losing U are also stellar. The album's pinnacle comes with the beautifully restrained Crush, on which Amerie delivers a magnificently controlled and exquisitely tender performance over perfectly placed drum fills and synths which burst out of the arrangement like fireworks. Spectacular work.