BMG
Urban Contemporary, 2021

Yes, I watch The Masked Singer—hey, it’s a step up from American Idol, so I refuse to feel any shame—and when the Harlequin stepped out on the stage of the second season of the UK version, I immediately knew she was Gabrielle. She couldn’t hide that distinctive voice of hers that much, heh. It makes sense to capitalize on her appearance on that show by releasing an album, hence here is Do It Again.

Quite disappointingly, however, this is an album with only two original songs. The rest are covers, with some of them her songs that she performed on the show. Also, if I dare to say it, the whole thing sounds rather cheaply put together, like they really don’t want to spend too much money on this thing.

The two new songs, Can’t Hurry Love and Stop Right Now, are actually the most forgettable songs in this lot, as they feel a lot like watered down versions of her better songs.

On the other hand, her rendition of Harry Styles’s Falling is actually very solid, as is her version of Sam Cooke’s Bring It On Home on Me. Her version of Rihanna’s Diamonds is also memorable, as the sultry, raspy quality of her voice adds some intriguing character to the whole performance.

Actually, all the songs here are okay. There is nothing objectively terrible about any of them. It’s just that, for the cover versions, they are mostly faithful and hence tame and unexciting performances that see Gabrielle just doing the song faithfully and adding her voice over the proceedings. It’s still a lovely voice that convey so many degrees of emotion in just a single note, but it feels wasted on such tepid songs.

So, Do It Again is a perfectly acceptable kind of okay, the kind of album that makes pleasant listening when played in the background with little attention paid to what is actually being sung. I’m alright with it, but I hope the follow-up will be more of a do it better affair.