Brandy: Human

Not the comeback Brandy may have wanted, Battle for the Sun is mostly a cause for embarrassment.

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Human is Brandy's first album since 2004, and it's clear that the height of her career has long passed. Littered with mediocre lyrics, homemade keyboard beats and overdone subjects, Human seems to have been made in haste and is hardly the comeback she was probably aiming for. The first single, Right Here (Departed), at least offers a tempo you can tap your foot to, but this comes with four minutes of drab lyrics that could have easily been summed up with "I'll be there for you". Her second single, Long Distance, is preceded with an interlude that will make you blush with embarrassment as the singer attempts to act. The song is OK until the moment when Brandy sings "Can you hear me crying?" which is followed by wailing best described as an elongated and failed attempt to show off her vocal range. I'll admit I did tear up at the musical massacre that occurred during that 15 seconds. By the time she reaches the title song, her lyrics have checked off all the universal clichés and then some with lines such as "I'm staring in the mirror and a stranger's looking back" and "I'm an angel in disguise". The a cappella track Something's Missing is filled with background voices singing and humming, to make up for the singer's weak vocals. The final number, Fall, tries to leave things on a good note. It's one of the better songs on the album, vocally and rhythmically.