Kenna - New Sacred Cow

The release of New Sacred Cow is somewhat of an amazing achievement. Definitely not something I thought would ever happen. Initially, Kenna was signed to Fred Durst's Interscope imprint Flawless Record - and even released a video for "Hellbent" that got some generous airplay on M2. That was two years ago. Eventually Kenna was dropped from Flawless and picked up by Columbia Records. Much to their chagrin, the album has been available online in some form or another that entire time (damn those promo copies). Fortunately for them, New Sacred Cow is not an album that wears thin even after two years. Nor is it an album that should be restricted to the compressed sounds of MP3s. The album was produced by Chase Chad of The Neptunes (the guy that isn't in every other rap video, but is in that Sprite commercial) and it's enormous bass sounds, clean drums, and subtle electronic touches just can't be properly enjoyed by anything but a proper stereo. Don't be fooled into thinking this is a hip-hop or pop-trash record just because of The Neptunes involvement. Think of it more like the N.E.R.D. sound getting busy with classic Depeche Mode ("Sunday After You" has some instrumentation that I would swear is Depeche Mode). The album shines during it's more upbeat moments - "Freetime", "Man Fading", and "Love/Hate Sensation" - but consists more of a mixture of mid- to up-tempo beats mixed with Kenna's vocals, creating a solid groove. Not to say that these moments aren't enjoyable as well, as in the build-up of "Vexed and Glorious", or the minimal yet heated "I'm Gone." In fact, the song that garned Kenna the most attention, "Hell Bent" is actually an excellent choice of a single (way to go Fred) as it encompasses the slow heartfelt style with the irrestibly head-bobbing building beats. Aside from being smart enough to actually pick Kenna up from possible musical obscurity, Columbia Records was smart enough (and nice enough) to include the additional track "Siren" on the disc (which name drops a Depeche Mode song, natch). That fact combined with the rad clear red packaging, and the full appreciation of sounds from Redbook Audio standards (CD) makes it a worthy purchase. That is, if you like the idea of N.E.R.D. mating with Depeche Mode and having its own creative baby. [www.kennaonline.com]