Jo Beng's debut album

Jo Beng
P-Phonic Records 2004

While there are a few promising bits on this album --a riff here, a beat there, and occasionally an entire cut like I Told You So-- this is mostly a tepid retread of neo-soul lite with somewhat flat production and her vocals veer around too much in terms of focus: from sounding in a Erykah Badu approximation (like the aforementioned I Told You So) to a postive-vibe inducing slink to just somewhat faceless R&B.

I am not totally writing her off, just hoping that with time she will develop her sound into something more cohesive and distinct, as it is clear she has a solid vocal prowess and can work with a variety of idioms.