Where are the chanteuses who once graced the charts, like Betty Wright, Roberta Flack or The Three Degrees? Where are the beautiful declarations of love and fidelity? The soul-stirring rock-bottoms of heartache and loneliness? A return to honest, resonant emotion?
Those questions are answered with the five songs of Love & Addiction, the debut EP from Aisha Eustache. The Oklahoma City native’s clean, clear voice is a hypnotic revelation that leaves listeners falling in love and hanging on every word she sings.
The opening cut, “Faithful,” is the type of song you wish and pray a woman would write for you, as she spills out her promises to love her “best friend” without any type of conditions or contractions. Same goes for the enchanting duo of “I Promise” and “My Angel.” The latter sounds like a New Jack variation of the classic Gamble and Huff production, keeping this tune on repeat.
The EP closes with an inspired, swanky cover of “Misty” that’s damn near comparable to Ella Fitzergald’s version. Eustache clearly was born in the wrong time.
I’m left to wonder, in this world of Mariahs and Rihannas, where bare-breasted style takes precedent over soul-baring substance, will others respond to Eustache the way I do? Oh, how I’ve missed this sound! —Louis Fowler
