Marsha Ambrosius is a 46 year old singer/songwriter from Liverpool, England, United Kingdom who came up as 1/2 of the duo Floetry. They would only put out 2 full-lengths before disbanding, but Dr. Dre signed Marsha to his Interscope Records imprint Aftermath Entertainment shortly after only for her to depart in 2009 without releasing a solo effort. She eventually released her debut Late Nights & Early Mornings under J Records in the spring of 2011 & returned a few summers later with the RCA Records-backed sophomore effort Friends & Lovers. The Songstress was last heard in 2018 when she put Nyla out through MNRK Music Group, but is returning to Aftermath/Interscope to let the Quincy Jones of hip hop himself Dre produce her 4th album making up for lost times.
“Smoke” starts by sampling “Yesterday” by Clifford Brown so she can take you away & preparing to bring umbrellas just in case of the weather whereas “Tunisian Nights” singing about evenings in the North African country of Tunisia putting an orchestral spin on the “Flight Time” by Donald Byrd sample. “1 Night Stand” flips “Remind Me” by Patrice Rushen so Marsha can describe a singular sexual encounter just before “Cloudy With a Chance of…Real” samples “Smilin’ Billy Suite, Pt. II” by The Heath Brothers so she can sing about loneliness.
Moving on from there, “Greedy” co-produced by DJ Khalil & Phonix luxuriously confesses she’s been hurting lately & it simply isn’t enough leading into the outstandingly sequenced 2-parter “Self Care / Wrong Right” singing about satisfying her appetite along with her lover having the good good & giving her the best sex she’s ever had. “Wet” incorporates these illustrious strings staying with her partner even during the worst conditions, but then “Thrill Her” brings a soulfully jazzy boom bap flare to the beat paying homage to the late King of Pop Michael Jackson.
“The Greatest” was another exuberant choice of a single ahead of Casablanco that Marsha herself, Dre of course, Blu2th, Dem Jointz, Focus… & Trevor Lawrence Jr. laced asking if one is scared of the love she has to give while “Best I Could Find” nears the end of the album hopping over summery guitar passages & keys talking about things becoming distant to the point where love had come far behind. “Music of My Mind” rounds out the LP fusing the symphonic & jazz elements into 1 giving flowers to some of her influences from Duran Duran to the late great J Dilla.
When you think about the fact that Marsha’s the only Aftermath artist to leave the label without releasing an official album & eventually come back to do exactly that, it was something that a lot of people including myself were surprised by although expectations remained higher than her previous material. Sure enough, this was a moment almost 2 decades in the making exemplifying her talents. It’s significantly more well-produced than her early solo stuff which is a given considering Dre’s perfectionism & Marsha lays down the most passionate songwriting & vocals of her career.
Score: 4.5/5
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