Artist: Mark Rae
Date Released: September 7, 2004
Label: Grand Central
Produced By:
Tracklisting:
- Into the Depths
- Mind, Body and Soul
- Without You Now
- Medicine
- Rise Up
- Reach Out to Me
- Put It Back Together
- Clip My Wings
- Depth Charge
- Gato
- San Francisco
Review[]
Mark Rae, ex-half of Rae & Christian, has dropped his second solo album titled Into the Depths. Rae, a DJ, producer, remixer, record company owner and artist, releases an album that is so completely polished, it comes off sounding over-produced. Utilizing a combination of funk-jazz, hip-hop, reggae and dancehall, the music is club and radio-friendly. The album is made up of sampled beats and breaks, along with a looser vibe thanks to the live drums, keyboards, guitar and bass. Rae contributes most of the vocals on the CD, along with the addition of sultry-singer Veba and reggae-ish Pete Simpson. This album could be very good, but, again, it is too polished, so much so, that it sounds cheesy. It definitely has a UK club feel to it, but more the pop-radio kind rather than the dirty-grit of the underground scene. Like the old saying goes, less is more; and rawness can add more energy to an album than all the plug-ins in the world. Michael Ardaiolo