Essentials was a bold title for a solo debut that often could have been mistaken for a major-label R&B project that began in 1998 and was shelved around 2002. It did lure a rapt following -- a couple highlights were streamed by the millions -- and led to Erika de Casier moving up to 4AD for the follow-up. Written and produced by de Casier with principal Essentials collaborator Natal Zaks, this is a fresher and highly refined second take on the billowy, pattering, slightly twitchy sounds of late-'90s/early-2000s contemporary R&B with architects such as Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, Missy Elliott and Timbaland, and Kevin She'kspere Briggs evidently among the inspirations still. As a singer, the Copenhagen native is in the pop-R&B lineage without gospel grounding, closest to Janet Jackson circa All for You, especially the tender moments of that album. Lyrically, however, there's little innuendo -- even the rawest line, "Take a bite of me," sounds more like an invitation to hang out -- with de Casier writing in clear terms about expectations, anticipation, disappointment, and (most amusingly) her partner's materialism. De Casier doesn't need to raise her sinewy voice to put her foot down, and is so restrained that she does little to show off her cleverest turns of phrase. She optimizes her limited range, but she and Zaks choose to keep the productions, all pleasant and finely rendered, similarly circumscribed in style and tempo. When a twisting U.K. garage rhythm springs forth on second-to-last track "Busy," it first hits like a bonus remix of a song heard earlier in the sequence. What are the odds that the skincare routine the singer mentions in that song includes Nivea products? ~ Andy Kellman, Rovi

1		Drama
2		Polite
3		Make My Day
4		All You Talk About
5		Insult Me
6		No Butterflies, No Nothing
7		Someone to Chill With
8		Acceptance[intermezzo]
9		Better Than That
10		Friendly
11		Secretly
12		Busy
13		Call Me Anytime

	Like us on Facebook
	@SoundHound	Follow