Katy B

On A Mission

On A Mission -

Track Listing

Brief Review

The debut album from Katy B is a brilliant blend of different sounds and styles stitched together by the unique voice that overpowers so many tracks and adds an extra kick to them. Perfect Stranger, Easy Please Me and On A Mission are three of the outstanding tracks here but with several different genres mashed in together, you're really spoiled for choice. This is definitely the pop album debut of 2011.

Full Review

Dubbed the 'Queen Of Dubstep', Katy B first made a name for herself providing vocals for a track which was later played on pirate radio. After her smash hit 'On A Mission' its hard to remember a time before she was in the charts. Her comfortably catchy hooks are easily remembered and her clever use of different genres help to define her as an artist with real potential and diversity.

Her debut album is a gem that starts weaker than it ends. The house influenced 'Power On Me' is a slightly mellow track with lazy vocals that bounce out from the instrumental track and this could easily work in the early 90s house era.

'On A Mission' is the track that finally pushed Katy B into the charts and is a dubstep track at its heart and Benga's rumbling bass helps make the vocals pop. The catchy tune has been played all over the UK and is definitely one of Katy's best.

'Why You Always Here' is one of the weakest on the album and showcases Katy B's ability in the UK Funky category. Personally, I don't like the genre but her vocals are okay here and definitely make the track better.

The synth-driven melody of 'Witches Brew' introduces more catchy vocals and a decent beat to match it. The backing track almost sounds like music from a pinball game but perhaps that's just me. Anyway, it still sounds good and another decent track on the album.

'Movement' and 'Go Away' fly by with more decent vocals but the beats aren't as strong here and the dubstep influences of 'Go Away' don't pop as much as 'On A Mission' does which is a shame but its only a minor gripe here on an album full of brilliant tracks.

Katy even dips into Drum and Bass with 'Disappear'. It's a loose beat and not quite the frantic as the upbeat kings of DnB but its still a decent inclusion here. Its worth noting that although this isn't an actual DnB track, it does almost sound like it so I'll refer to it as such. It really does help to define her as a diverse artist and in the ever-changing market of music its a really handy tool to have.

From here, the album really kicks up a notch and every track is a club-banger. 'Broken Record' is the newest chart hit for the Queen Of Dubstep and is a much cleaner attempt at Drum and Bass and she executes it well. The 4 to the floor beat mixes in well with the beat of Drum and Bass and although not as stronger as her other attempts, this mellow head bopper is still a decent track.

'Lights On' is another big big track and teaming up with Ms Dynamite, she provides a big UK funky track and although the beat isn't that strong and the "rapping" of Ms Dynamite doesn't really help either, the vocals of Katy really shine and make the track what it is.

The other new track from Katy B is, in my opinion, one of her best. 'Easy Please Me' is a female-friendly track that will definitely appeal to the masses. All about how guys chat girls up with cringingly bad chat up lines, its a cheeky stab at the bar and club scene. The synth beat and Social Network inspired bass really fit well together and would work well as an instrumental as well as a vocal track.

'Perfect Stranger' is another massive track and the second on the album that smashed into the charts. The different beat structures work so well together with a decent build before a frantic chorus that will have you humming it for days afterwards.

The album ends on a surprising note with the deep house 'Hard To Get'. The diverse nature of this artist is brilliant and her debut album shows off her potential for the future in the dog-eat-dog business of music. Her album is definitely the best out of the lot on offer this year and is miles better than Jessie J's attempt. Her place as Queen Of Dubstep is rightly deserved and hopefully her next album shows her talents off as well as this one has.