Raised in Oceanside, CA, Lea Love brings sounds as varied as her Hawaiian, Japanese and Samoan background on this album of reggae, hip hop and soul. The Jamaican lilt is strong as it mixes with an indie sound on the title track and synth pulsed “No Feels,’ while she throws in a bit of doo wop on the fun “One Too Many.” Her nasally voice is emotive on the ballad “Black and White” and sounds 50s ish with the guitar lick on a noir “No Good At Love.” Lots of attitude for modern times.
Amanda Martinez sings in both English and Spanish, sharing vocals with guests Elsten Torres, Donne’ Roberts, Kellylee, Guadalupe Urbina, Pablosky Rosales and bassist Waleed Abdulhamid during this upbeat and romantic session.The band of Kevin Laliberte’/g, Drew Birston/b, Rosendo Leon/perc, Alexander Brown/tp, Osvaldo Rodriguez/vi and Harold Birston/cel create flamenco moods on the fluid “Liberame” and lovely flowing pulses for “En La Distancia.” Martinez herself does a sweet duet with Torres on the earthy “Hey Corazon” and sis sensuous with Brown during “Estaba Cayendo.’ A moody “Te Amo” teams her with Rosales and the World Music mood is expansive on “Begin.” Optimistic sounds.