Now entering the pandemic world of Autotune, Marques Houston still charms his way through "I Love Her;" the breezy R&B single from his fourth solo project Mr. Houston. "Body" scores extra kudos for its slick bedroom magic and Isley-like guitar swoons. They play with Jamie Foxx’s "Blame It" to create the synth-dominated " Express Lane ." "Case of You" is quite unique for interpreting a love sickness to that of the flu. "Say My Name" bears the Joe aesthetic, but it lacks the grown-up control.
Houston, 28, still has yet to cross the metamorphic frontier of leaping from boyband leader to serious R&B crooner. While his producers try their hardest to surround the heartthrob around apropos urban beats identical to R&B new generation torchbearers like The-Dream and Usher, his voice lacks the charisma for a man his age. He’s also a chameleon of sorts on Mr. Houston – at times pulling off falsetto swoops like El DeBarge on "Beautiful Woman," sounding like Chico Debarge on "Sexy Young Girl" and even using T-Pain’s signature Autotune aerobics on both "I Love Her" and "Restaurant." The progress made since Naked and Veteran is pretty slim, since he’s now resorting to pulling off good enough rip-offs of urban radio’s stars. The early cuts have the better packaging of production and memorable hooks while the second half suffers from its less-than-enthusiastic performances and insipid lyricism. Still, the content isn’t sleazy and scandalous while the musicality is maturing – enough evidence that there’s light at the end of the tunnel for the budding R&B ballader.
Notable tracks: "I Love Her," "Body," "Case of You" and " Express Lane "
Vocals: 2.0 stars
Lyrics: 2.0 stars
Music: 2.5 stars
Production: 2.5 stars
Soultracks Call: Recommended
By J. Matthew Cobb
