First off, I should start by saying that this album is, as Sick Boy from Transpotting may remark, “a total fucking misnomer.” That is to say that Kathy Diamond does about as little for this album’s overall effect as any other pop star’s contribution to their top hits. This is a pop album, but it’s a dance pop album, and the dance element is what keeps Miss Diamond To You in your playlist.
Maurice Fulton, who has been a behind-the-scenes man for years, producing dance beats under a plethora of aliases for more than a decade, is the heart and soul of this album. His funk inspired bass lines, 80’s synth-pop inspired fills, and steady moving 70’s soul revival drum beats are what keeps the listener interested, especially at the beginning of the album. My two favorites of the album, “Between the Lines” and “All Woman,” fully encompass Fulton’s expertise at creating sick beats, and allow the listener to not have to think all that intently about the music, and just fucking dance.
Kathy Diamond doesn’t necessarily make this album worse, but her uninteresting vocals and half assed cliché lyrics (I came, I saw, I conquered your heart) aren’t what your really focused on. She is also constant outshined by the beats that are supposed to be backing her up, and in reality only is able to stand out on the a cappella interlude tracks, which seem to serve as a precursor for whichever theme Fulton thinks of next.
Where the music falls short in terms of a very good album is that for a pop album, it sounds very restrained. This is most likely due to the fact that though it is a genuine sounding pop album, the multi-million dollar studio tricks and tools were not at hand for Fulton, and thus it sounds like a well made album, but mostly off of some guy’s laptop with a few instruments of his own lying around. The piano also sounds much too electronic and doesn’t fit in with the smoothness of the rest of the music. However, it is good to hear a fun, danceable record, and perhaps if Fulton gets more cred, he’ll soon have the tools to make the first truly bad ass dance record of the 21st century.
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