Search - Da'Ville :: In Heaven

A Very Very Welcome Surprise. . .

Achis | Kingston, JA/Philipsburg, SxM | 12/21/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Despite the fact that I had longed marked Da'ville as one of the best new and up and coming pure singing dancehall talents to have emerged in JA within the last decade, I had a REALLY bad feeling when I received his debut album, In Heaven. Daville had originally released In Heaven here through his own label, which had virtually no distribution outside of the Caribbean, and as his name continued to grow through making solid hits, he went the more frequent route today of signing with a Japanese label to release his debut.



I think that's what made me not to keen on the whole thing.



Recently, established dancehall acts Ward 21 and Voicemail have also chosen to go the route of releasing through a Japanese label and the results have been bad, AT BEST! Why such an established act as Ward 21 would have to leave Greensleeves (well, that part is no mystery) to go to a Japanese label to release the TERRIBLE King of the World (take into account that ultimately both Voicemail and now Da'ville's albums were ultimately picked up by a Western label, which is a distinction nowhere in site for King of the World) is a mystery to me; as well as why the up and coming Voicemail, who was only months away from signing a deal with VP, would chose that route for their less than stellar debut Hey (which was ultimately shaved of some of the filler material, before reaching the west).



However, Da'ville, former lead of the fine harmony group ARP has apparently broken the 'curse' of the Japanese reggae labels as he released In Heaven, his official debut album. The role of dancehall singer is an often underrated one in modern times as very few of our PURE singers chose that route, opting more for the rootical side of the music (not that I'm complaining) and Da'ville has definitely given a shot in the arm to that style of artist.



Acting as executive producer, Da'ville has concocted a marvelous album which, perhaps its finest quality in my opinion, seeks to be absolutely nothing but a reggae album. There are no overt attempts at crossover at all on In Heaven (barely any at all), he approached the album with the idea of making a nice dancehall album and that is exactly what you get when you pick up In Heaven.



The best tune here is probably the divine title track, a previous #1 hit for the young veteran. The self produced record created a very nice stir here and really has one of the biggest vibes you should here from any young singer as Da'ville taps into the Sanchez/Wayne Wonder level on the track. The other truly exceptional track here is without a doubt the second of the two combinations, the lovely All My Life on which Da'ville shows off with one of the true pillars of the reggae industry, the legendary Marcia Griffiths. The two do a fine and well powerful duet that should've definitely received more spins than it did.



Other standouts include the outstanding opener, Mama's Portrait. Backed by a mighty Firehouse riddim, the obligatory Mama tune is one of the album's finest works and goes a lot further in truly making a beautiful song, than just bigging up Da'ville's mom. Also check the nice nice My Grade over Frenchie's cut of the World Jam riddim (aka the Jamrock), Da'ville had one of the finest efforts on the riddim altogether and My Grade still stands out. Check Chill definitely the nice acoustic track which just makes you want to. . . chill.



Inna hardcore dancehall stylee, Da'ville still holds his own. Check the high powered Gallis which did quite well and became a nice hit for the artist for its anthemic type of feel. Here it is given and ever so slight refashioning over Firelinks sickly hype Mad Instruments riddim and it fits in well on the album. Check Jump Off for Vendetta over his stellar French Vanilla riddim, the song takes a much more melodic route than most of the other hardcore tunes on the riddim, and it is a fine mixup for the album. But the best hardcore track her is easily the massive Hey Baby, one of his other #1's over, the song is extremely magnetic and will have you up and moving guaranteed!



Finally, before I forget, two really big tracks, later in the album. Check Weh She Want and Love Will Show me the way. Da'ville's true strength lies in voicing over the modern dancehall one drops, and he does it exceedingly well.



Overall, definitely recommending this album and its updated and even stronger Western version. The album is one of the finer dancehall pieces of 2005 altogether and very impressive for the young veteran and shows he may in a short time have the skills to rate with such artists as the classy Wayne Wonder and timeless Sanchez. His style does fit into a very neo-style of dancehall as well as within the current trend of 'revibing' older material as well. Within the next couple of years, Da'ville will be a HUGE artist, and In Heaven shows that definitely."