(EMI) Priscilla Renea has come a long wayfrom her Vero Beach, Florida bedroom, where she'd upload singing clips to YouTube, to the storied roster at Capitol Records. Fresh off a stirring performance at this past weekend's Lollapalooza festival in Chicago, Renea is readying her debut album, Jukebox (Oct 20th). First single "Dollhouse" is an uptempo empowerment anthem that shows off Renea's airy vocals and earnest, endearing lyrics. Over a bouncy 4/4 beat from Benny Blanco (Britney Spears, 3OH!3) and Lil' Ronnie (Britney Spears, Mary J. Blige, R. Kelly), Renea sings fiercely for relationship independence and chides an insensitive, indifferent partner with the line "I ain't a doll, this ain't a dollhouse!". "Dollhouse" bears Renea's immediacy and relevance, the two hallmarks that distinguish her from scores of aspiring singers and elevated her to an internet sensation.
Full-length debut Juxebox is aptly named, for it reflects 20 year old Renea's wide-ranging musical sensibilities and influences, and also the scope of her talents. "Lovesick" is bouncy, piano-powered pop; "Pretty Girl" is introspective, insightful ballad.
"Rockabye" is a funky, neck-snapping sermon about premature parenthood. Heavy subject matter for sure, but Renea masks it with vintage No Doubt-like sass for a surefire hit. Another standout track is "Mr. Workabee," tongue-in-cheek tsk-tsk to a promiscuous male known to "often forget he has a queen at home." Apologizing for being "all up in his beeswax," Renea gently but unmistakably looks to right some wrong over a plodding, playful, polkaesque beat. Note also the thoughtful, sugary, guitar-strummed ditty "Stone Garden" and the sweeping paean "Fixing My Hair" that espouses sincerity and eschews superficiality.
Jukebox is a deliberately, artfully constructed album; Renea performs many of the guitar and piano parts herself. And her outside contributors are equally well-chosen: Atlanta-based production team Power Entertainment (T.I., Ludacris), Brian Kidd (Enrique Iglesias, Britney Spears, Nappy Roots), and legendary Danish duo Soulshock & Karlin (Madonna, Seal, Whitney Houston, Keyshia Cole). Jukebox comes on the heels of Renea's three-song EP Hello My Apple, released earlier this year. Comprising the titular track, the grand "Cry," and the upbeat "I Fell in Love," Hello My Apple is a trio of Renea's biggest YouTube-premiered songs. Elsewhere, look for her advertorial array in the pages of trendsetting magazine Giant, and her Baby Phat campaign under the auspices of tastemaker Kimora Lee Simmons. Priscilla Renea has indeed come far, and thus far it's all been a preamble. Her true tale starts now.
