They say that soul is missing in music nowadays, that everything sounds the same and that love is missing not only in music, but life in general. While you know what these people are wrong. Exhibit A of many for their still being so is seasoned R&B/Soul singer/songwriter, Bridget Kelly.
With her long-awaited and highly-anticipated debut album, Reality Bites, finally dropping just a few short months ago, Kelly shows that the soul and love is still in music. The singer using the many ups and downs, trials and tribulations, as well as bites of reality and vulnerability, not only in her love life, but in this fickle entertainment industry as inspiration for much of the album.
Starting with the very soulful opening track, Little Did You Know, where Bridget very emotionally sings the very heartfelt lyrics, “Little did you know,” about several things she went through to get to where she is now. Whether it be problems with her previous label or in previous relationships. You could almost hear the tears flowing down as the Brooklyn-bred singer, sings some of the most emotionally powerful vocals you will ever hear to open any album, which makes you know you’re really in for a truly timeless body of work that will be remembered for years and generations to come.
Records like the very instrument-heavy, Should’ve Been You, and Something, really letting Bridget show off her very smooth and soulfully amazing vocals. The segue between these two tracks really being so seamless and perfect too. The latter record having a really nice smooth feature from Chaz French, which perfectly compliments Bridget too. That than perfectly transitions into what has a chance to be one of her biggest records to date, In the Grey. A very powerful song about an ambiguous relationship that may feel like a relationship, but as you listen to the very raw and honest lyrics is about a situation-ship that many of us have either been in before, are currently in or may experience in the future, but don’t always want to admit being in.
On an album that’s mostly just Bridget herself and what you really want from an artist on their first real project or debut album, she keeps the features to a real minimum with French on the already previously mentioned, Something and then Ro James on, Love You From a Distance and Jordan Bratton on, To You. Love You From a Distance, a really beautiful harmonizing guitar-driven ballad between BK and Ro about a love that works better from a distance. Despite the track itself being a running time of only a minute and fifty-six seconds, it’s one of the real highlights of the whole album that shows what great chemistry the two artists have and could build on for greater than and longer records on future collaborations. The very positive and hopeful upbeat vocals from Bridget on the drum-driven production of, To You, easily another highlight of the album. As she sings so masterfully with her very amazing vocals about the hope and positivity she hopes to one day have coming home to in a relationship. Bratton bringing the male perspective about halfway through the track and how he looks forward to coming home to someone so beautiful and amazing.
Something that many fans whether new or old will really appreciate throughout a lot of the album is how there’s a lot more instrumentation in most of the production too. Which I think Bridget purposely did for when she eventually does her live shows and/or goes on tour and the fact it just sounds better with her very heavenly soulful vocals. Need a Love, which is arguably the best track on the album really showing this. Pipe Dreams, which really showcases Bridget’s very powerfully passionate amazing vocals being yet another one that does. But her very funky and sexy, as well as vulnerably sexy intoxicating single, Sedated, with its guitar, keyboard and whole intoxicating band-backed production, is probably where it’s really showed most. Also why it’s easily my favorite of all the many great records on the album. The drums, keyboard, snare and clap-heavy production on, No Apologies, coming in a very close second. Especially with how it really let’s Bridget show off her very powerfully passionate vocals and the strong lyrics that really let her leave, no apologies.
As you get towards the end of the album with, Happy for Me, you couldn’t ask for any better of a record to close out such an amazingly timeless masterpiece of an album. Bridget over the slow acoustic guitars singing about a relationship that didn’t work out and how she hopes her former man, will allow her to be happy. It’s a record where she’s really able to show off her very soft and amazingly angelic vocals, while also showing how worth the wait her album truly was. The record like the whole album, shows a lot of the bites of reality, both good and bad Bridget had to go through in order to bring: hope, happiness and joy to not only herself, but so many others who really need it at such a crazy time many are going through right now. Powerful and life changing music that’s really needed right now.