- When we first heard from Redinho back in 2011, his music was a welcome reprieve from the subgenre-obsessed UK dance dialog. The Numbers associate wrote funk songs so effortless they could have been made up on the spot, with lovably goofy talkbox work that contributed to the ad hoc feeling. But now that we've waited three years for him to release anything substantial, it's hard not to feel disappointed by his self-titled debut album. Somewhere along the way, he lost that giddiness and found a stodgy sense of self-awareness instead. Chock full of playful basslines, over-the-top synth work and yes, more talkbox, Redinho is everything you'd expect it to be, but does it all with a profound disinterest.
The weariness emerges early on with "Jacuzzi," a novelty song based around a made-up aspirational lifestyle brand. It doesn't sound any better than it does on paper. On "Sharp Shooter," he boasts of his sexual prowess and seductive ways—a common theme here. But it gets harder and harder to take coming from a squiggly talkbox voice better suited for a trickster persona than some synthetic Lothario. Redinho's strength just isn't in sexy R&B—when he spouts, "It's something about the way you move," on the soggy "Playing With Fire," he sounds completely unconvincing.
Moments of brilliance flash here and there, but they can't hold up the album all on their own. "Shem" is a reminder that he can do instrumentals, rolling along with misty-eyed synths (see also the brief "Bubbles" and "With Or Without You"). It's easy to think how Redinho could have been a knockout if we got that kind of focus, but instead we're presented with rambling, poorly thought-out songs. The Vula duet "Making Up The Rules" sounds like it was recorded with its two bored protagonists separated by an ocean, while the plodding plastic soul of "Going Nowhere" is the sound of Long Distance-era Onra falling asleep at the wheel.
The best songs are the ones we've heard already. If you're interested in Redinho, you probably have the spazzed-out "Searching" from last year, and the more thoughtful "Stay Together," which goes back to 2011 (why bother including it here?). Most of the stuff in between is inessential. Redinho is the kind of just-OK LP you expect an artist to make midway through their careers—the uneven record that diehard fans gobble up anyway. But as an artist with only a few release to his name, Redinho shouldn't be resting on his laurels already.
Tracklist01. Stinger
02. Jacuzzi
03. Playing With Fire
04. Dive
05. Searching
06. Shem
07. Bubbles
08. Sharp Shooter
09. Making Up The Rules
10. With Or Without You
11. Get You Off My Mind
12. Suction Skit
13. Going Nowhere
14. Say I Want You
15. Stay Together