Kem Album II CD

Personnel: Kem (vocals, keyboards); Quentin Baxter, Reggie McTaw (guitar); Stevie Wonder (harmonica); David McMurray (saxophone); Brian O'Neal (keyboards, synthesizer); Fred Robinson , Al Turner (bass instrument); Ron Otis (drums); Marlon Curry (percussion).
Kem is as out of place with 2005's Album II as he was with his debut, 2003's Kemistry. Via word of mouth and some radio play, he has managed to find his way in with the adult crowd, who helped put Kemistry into the Top 20 of the R&B chart. His kind of R&B is kicked-back with sparse arrangements made elegantly rich with starlit keyboards, subtle guitar flicks, and feminine vocals. Understated but assured, his vocals exhibit a lot of range despite almost always remaining at the volume of a bedroom whisper. So he's really out place in the early 2000s, not stylistically disparate from what you'd hear late at night on a soul station in the late '70s or early '80s. On Album II, there's no stab taken at finding a younger or different audience. You could slip any of these songs between Heatwave's "Star of a Story" and George Benson's "Give Me the Night" without fear of disrupting the tone or mood. Stevie Wonder's guest harmonica on "You Might Win" keeps the connections to Motown and grown folks' music, but Rod Temperton -- the songwriter behind the two older songs mentioned above, not to mention heaps of other classics -- would be the ultimate dream collaborator for Kem. The two would suit each other perfectly. ~ Andy Kellman
With an alluring smooth-jazz backdrop to match his silken vocals, Kem captured many a heart on his bewitching debut, KEMISTRY. For his 2005 follow-up, simply titled ALBUM II, the Nashville native provides another set of enchanting soul torch songs, exquisitely produced by Kem himself. The result is an incredibly seductive record with winsome flutes and summery saxophones drifting in behind Kem's beguiling voice.
Kem opens ALBUM II by questioning the nature of love on "Find Your Way (Back in My Life)," and the entire record is an exploration of that familiar theme. Kem's take on love is multi-faceted and, at times, deeply tied to his connection with God, to whom he directly addresses two songs, "Heaven" and "Each Other." An unassuming spirituality winds its way through his R&B compositions in an organic fashion similar to Stevie Wonder's early 1970s output, and, fittingly, that legend drops by to lend his unmistakable harmonica to the breathtaking "You Might Win." ALBUM II serves as an admirable second outing for an emergent soul voice.