Published on Mar 12, 2001
Listening to
Don’t Hold Back, the latest release from Chicago’s own
Public Announcement, I found myself struck by the concept that they
reminded me a lot of R. Kelly. That’s about the time I visited the
band’s website and discovered that Kelly had once been a member of
this group. (Can you tell I don’t listen to nearly enough
urban-contemporary music in my diet?)
Following the collapse of A&M Records through merger (and
subsequent release from Interscope) and the departure of Euclid
Gray, one could understand why it took the r&b quartet this
long to follow up
All Work, No Play – and risk falling behind other acts
jockeying for public attention. But the addition of Ace Watkins
seems to have breathed some new life into the remaining members –
Earl Robinson, Feloney Davis and Glenn Wright – and this disc,
while a little slow at times, proves to be worth the wait.
Best known for their slow jams, Public Announcement show they’re
not afraid to let the beat and the groove take things over on
Don’t Hold Back, from the energy-to-spare title track to the
first single “Mamacita” to the Montell Jordan-like “Long Long
Summer (We Can)”. At times, the sexuality gets to be a little too
much, as on “Papi” and “Rithickulous,” but I’ll admit it’s not as
lascivious as some things I’ve heard over the years. Besides, it
could be argued that Public Announcement is just following in the
path of someone like Barry White.
What’s interesting to me is that, despite Public Announcement
wanting to grow past the slow jam ballads, it is this style which
seems to suit them the best. Songs like “Man Ain’t Supposed To
Cry,” “When I See You” and “Lose A Love” are all pristine examples
of what this group is capable of, and they can set the mood almost
as well as a candlelight dinner and an expensive bottle of
wine.
For all of the positive things one could say about
Don’t Hold Back, sometimes the production of this disc
suggests that someone is indeed holding back. The beats and
arrangements often lean toward the sparse side – and, on occasion,
this is the perfect arrangement style. But some of these tracks
almost beg for richer orchestration, and they’re regrettably
deprived of it. Public Announcement has proven they can do fast and
slow tempos well; maybe they could add the final piece to the
puzzle the next time around.
Still,
Don’t Hold Back is an enjoyable disc that should reaffirm to
their fans (as well as afficionados of r&b) that this group is
not only back, but in it for the long haul.