mixtape maestro (2.0)

Avoiding the oft-kilter club chemistry she shared with Timbaland (“Oops, Oh My”, “Call Me”) on her sleepy second album, It’s Me Again, it’s no wonder that album barely made a dent on the charts. Her wispy, acousti-soul confessionals might be her personally preferred choice of song, but she’s at her most memorable when she attaches her old school vocals to beats of the future. Thankfully, she’s come to terms with what works and offers an Outkast-ish thump on latest single, “Anymore”.

Underlined by handclaps and odd synth noises that sound like a weeping cyborg, Tweet balances out the track’s quirkiness with her sultry delivery, flipping out over an old boyfriend’s image makeover as he attempts reconciliation. “What happened to you boy?”, she asks, taken aback by this stranger of a man with actual decent traits in his arsenal. Re-living the pain she put him through, though, and Tweet isn’t completely convinced of his complete 180, concerned it’s only a temporary ruse to win her back (“Is this a game that you playing?/ Remember you left me hanging?”). Being the smart cookie that she is, she refuses to let him back in her life so easily, opting to ponder the idea over in her head a bit before she foolishly opens her heart again.

The track doesn’t have the instantaneous appeal of “Oops” (one of the best R&B singles of the ’00′s), but it definitely sets her promising career back on track.

DL: “Anymore” (YFH)