It wasn’t just my friend Keath who was surprised when I said that I love Amanda Blank‘s debut album – I surprised myself! Any kind of hip hop usually goes straight over my head but Amanda’s added mixture of electronica and catchy hooks won me over.

It wasn’t immediate though; the first proper listen of I Love You didn’t impress me much at all but after giving it another chance (and challenging my “I-never-like-hip-hop” perception) I finally discovered what a fun album it really is. I even kinda want this t-shirt now!

I’ll admit that the more straightforward dance/pop oriented songs such as “DJ” and “Shame On Me” are my favorites but I do like the others as well – even the cheesy LL Cool J homage “A Love Song” (which also has a small guest appearance by Santigold). However, opening track “Make It Take It” as well as single “Might Like You Better” both show a good balance between the pop and hip hop sounds. She even adds a little indie-pop spin to it all by having Lykke Li appear on the very last track, “Leaving You Behind”.

I Love You is available on iTunes now.

~ “DJ” ~