Angie Stone
Unexpected

Campus Correspondent CD review by Andy Argyrakis,
Campus Correspondent coordinator

The title to Angie Stone’s latest album on Stax is a bit musically misleading considering she merely repackages the same old neo-soul throw downs within some funky production. But the lyrical inspiration certainly lives up to that moniker, if only for the fact that her father’s recent death came totally out of the blue.

Given her gospel upbringing, she takes the positive route in channeling that grief and should be commended for the cape diem demeanor, but even so, the tunes feel like regurgitations of the sounds originally applied to her late ‘90s/early 2000s chart surge. Regardless of lackluster material, Stone’s voice remains in soulful step, rarely tapering and remaining her most vital attribute.