Galactica Rush

Leaving her Kentucky home for the musical hotbed of London -- via Los Angeles -- singer Jhelisa Anderson got her start with the Shamen in the early '90s. After cutting the well-received Boss Drum with the Scottish combo, she landed a deal with the Dorado label and recorded this stunning debut. The nine tracks groove nicely along on an urbane mix of club-soul and jazz-funk, and feature a wealth of vocal treats (both lead and backing) from Jhelisa. She also had a hand in writing all the tracks here, and demonstrates her solid grasp of deep grooves and inventive instrumentation throughout the album. Helped out by veterans of the London scene, like producer Lee Hamblin (Duran Duran, Coldcut) and keyboardist Matt Cooper (Us3) -- not to mention New York jazzer Greg Osby on soprano saxophone -- Jhelisa delivers an album sure to please fans of contemporary soul, hip-hop, jazz, and electronica's melodic fringes. ~ Stephen Cook