To most people the phrase "Romanian soul music" is an oxymoron, a contradiction in terms if you will. Not any more. Ruth Renner was born in Timisoara, a city in the West of that icy country and spent her formative years living at a remote weather station in the mountains. This isolation must have encouraged her sense of independence as she took her love of music, gorgeous voice, and prodigious talent and hooked up with a couple of hip hop heads in Berlin determined to take over the world. Ruth was by no means a naïve country girl at the mercy of big producers; she does a lot of her own programming and most of the songwriting -- and what songwriting it is. People complain about the state of "pop" music these days (although it becomes more and more difficult to define what that term means). Well, they should look no further, because this album represents everything it should be.
There is so much variety on this record. It has soul at its core, but there are many other styles at the party, from hip hop to gospel, techno to jazz, house to R&B and plenty else besides. Ruth gets away with this genre hopping because the songwriting is so strong. The album begins with a great, short but sweet, pop number ("Rock Me") and then starts skipping through the styles, getting even better as it progresses, a rare occurrence these days. "Crush On You" betrays Ruth's love of hip hop, a Tribe-style double bass and brass combination segueing into summery acoustic. She's not afraid to get into unusual sonic territory, as with the dark "Cocain Part II," where she sings an intriguing melody over some pretty fucked-up beats. It's this brave use of the sonic palette which really keeps things interesting. We're soon into drum and bass territory with the great fun "Get Away" and after that we're hit with the divine ballad, "Drink My Wine," inebriated beats shuffling paralytically under a beautiful string part and Ruth's exquisite voice.
There is something to be said about every song on this album there is so much going on in all the tracks, but there is not enough space to do that here. Suffice to say that anyone who has an ounce of soul in their bodies should check this record out. Sweet music from the unlikeliest of sources.
1. Rock Me
2. Sweet City
3. Leave Me, Baby
4. Crush On You
5. Obsession
6. Cocain Part II
7. Get Away
8. Come To My House
9. Drink My Wine
10. Greatest
11. Two Stars
12. What's Your Name?
13. She Won't Do It
14. The Day II
15. The Day I
More about: Platnum
