Review Summary: On "Double Dutchess", Fergie seems to follow the same pattern as she did before, but with less than appetizing results.
When
Janet Jackson first started up the BMG label, I thought it would be a great way for her to not only release music that was related to singer's sensual nature, but also a way for me to hopefully get a little more insight on what possibly influenced her in making great and creative music. Jackson's "Unbreakable" was a solid effort from a member of the contemporary R&B royalty, and although I didn't care as much for either release from
Beyoncé, I found moments of each of them charming.
Now comes
Fergie with her second album "Double Dutchess" and I am honestly left wondering whether it's some sort of an inside joke. On the new release, self-proclaimed M.I.L.F. blasts through eighteen tracks in under thirty minutes and there isn't a single track on the release that sounds much more developed than the group of high school valley dolls down the the glamorous shop that picked up instruments about two months ago and have their minds set on making lipgloss music.
With song titles like "Like It Ain't Nuttin'," "M.I.L.F. $," and "L.A Love (La La)," I was actually expecting some humorous content (or at the very least some super offensive stuff ala erotic games in style of
Cupcakke), but other than perhaps one or two places, the Fergie didn't even manage to make me crack a smile (whereas I still can find a place in my heart sometimes for smartasses like two similar titles of tracks, "Love is Blind" and "Love is Pain"). Of course, it would probably help if her vocals weren't so buried in fuzz and distortion that I could actually understand her once in awhile.
So, basically the "Double Dutchess" sounds like Fergie was blasted, and then recorded almost twenty tracks of one-take mature woman mental weakness that is heavy on repetition and distortion and lack a whole lot in terms of melody and just about anything else. One of the only times that artist breaks from the formula is on
Enigma-inspired "Hungry," and although it's not quite as epic as it could be, the new-age-like track actually shows off a little bit in terms of organic composition and harmony and ends with an obvious reference to the
Dead Can Dance-penned sampling rather than
Nicki Minaj's ordinary featuring on "You Already Know". It's complicated and can be true "understatement of the year", as singer said on the opening track.
