Everybody Got Their Something

Japanese pressing of her debut album currently getting loads of airplay on her ace single for 'Like A Feather' which is a cross between Lenny Kravitz & Prince. This Japanese album includes one bonus track, 'I Don't Want To Be The Rain' which is not available on the import single to 'Like A Feather'. 13 tracks in all including a hidden bonus track that trails track 12. 2001 release.

Nikka Costa's fiercely bootylicious first single, "Like a Feather"--that song with the thick, clapped 16th notes--has already garnered the 28-year-old singer one hell of a buzz, and for the most part, she's got the goods to back it up. Already a platinum-selling artist in Europe and South America, the Tokyo-born, L.A.-bred singer's stateside debut bulges with ambition. It's a mixed bag of musical tricks that's equal parts '70s-style funk, hazy Led Zeppelin-inspired psychedelia, and angst-ridden alternachick yowling, with healthy dollops of soul, hip-hop, and thrash thrown in for good measure. Produced by Costa, Australian rocker Justin Stanley (who's also the singer's husband), and high-profile New York City DJ Mark Ronson, the album works best when it piles on the noise--like on the standout "Tug of War," which features the unmistakable rim-shot work of Roots drummer ?uestlove. On that track, a flurry of scratched samples, layers of soundboard-smeared noise, and a few luscious string sweeps break into gospel-choir harmonies that swirl gorgeously beneath Costa's reedy mezzo-soprano wails. It's a shame that she can't match this intensity on sparser down-tempo ballads like "Nothing" and "Just Because," where she sounds like Fiona Apple's slightly less annoying older sis. As the album's title says, everybody got their something, and Costa sounds best when she sticks to hers. --Sylvia W. Chan