Eamon - I Don't Want You Back - Music & Performance - CD

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I Don't Want You Back, the debut disc from 19-year-old Staten Island native Eamon, is not exactly an anti-love album. . . but it's close. Following on from his hit single, "F**k It (I Don't Want You Back)" (listed simply as "I Don't Want You Back" on this clean version of the album), Eamon makes it very clear that he's up front and even "in your face" when it comes to relationships. And that's the theme of this very solid coming-out album. Solid? You bet! It shot straight to No. 7 on the Billboard 200 against stiff competition like Norah Jones, OutKast and Josh Groban all riding high.

Eamon honed his chops early, performing with his father's doo-wop group at the tender age of nine. And that influence still threads its way through the younger man's music. So too a number of other genres. But most of all, Eamon is a mix of classic crooner and street-wise lyricist.

After a short intro that really is an intro, Eamon hits a vibrant, doo-wop inflected soul vibe with "I Love Them," which samples The Flamingos' "I Only Have Eyes For You." The singer has a wiry kind of voice that can coo or scat with equal aplomb. And he really uses it to the fullest on this cut. The jazz inflected "Somethin' Strange," (featuring rapper Milk Dee) keeps things light but has a tasty, dance-worthy beat. The message is in the groove as much as the provocative lyrics on this album.

Ballads are also a forte of this rising urban music star. "On & On" is gentle, contemporary R&B in the boy band style, while the star track, "I Don't Want You Back," follows a similar path sonically but is filled with the venom that all jilted lovers have felt at one time or another. There's almost a trill in Eamon's voice as he castigates his ex in this post-breakup classic.

On the dance front, "Get Off My. . ." (also featuring Milk Dee) is a sparse drum and bass number with a looping organ line that lends a hypnotic effect to proceedings. Meanwhile, "Girl Act Right" has a hustling Caribbean feel that will fill plenty of dancefloors.

The '60s Motown stylings of the swaying "I Want You So Bad" is an ear catching departure, as is the jazz-tinged undertow of the mellow "Lo Rida," which features catchy raps from N.O.R.E.

I Don't Want You Back is an impressive debut album from a very young artist. Judging by its chart success, it speaks to a similarly young audience that can relate to both the frustrations Eamon articulates and the grooves he lays down. This just may be the urban music of tomorrow, now.

By Adrian Zupp