Chevaughn ADD

Review

Review: Chevaughn - Hopeless Romantic EP

03/08/2014

by Valentin Zill

Hopeless Romantic is a must for any lover’s rock fan, and Chevaughn a name you should definitely keep track of.

Chevaughn Clayton is no stranger to anyone who closely follows Jamaican music. The Edna Manley College alumnus started to sing at the tender age of four, and rose first eyebrows that weren’t his mother’s when he won the Tastee Talent Competition in 1997. Reggaeville readers might know him as the lead singer of C-Sharp, this most gifted band that started from Room 13 of Edna Manley College. C-Sharp has worked with legendary Bunny Rugs and Ibo Cooper, has toured extensively with Tony Rebel and Queen Ifrica, and has stunned many with their 2011 album debut The Invitation.

Chevaughn has pursued a solo career besides C-Sharp for quite some time now, with most memorable contributions to VP’s Our Favorite Beres Hammond Songs (2011, Got To Get Away) and We Remember Gregory Isaacs (2011, Red Rose For Gregory). Jamaica had taken notice of him two years earlier through Holiday, the reggae fusion summer hit that featured him longside Ding Dong.

Ladies and Gentlemen, Chevaughn finally presents his debut EP now. It is called Hopeless Romantic and comes with five lovers tunes, each one carefully crafted and well-produced to the high standards we’re used to see from C-Sharp, with personal, intimate lyrics most everyone who has ever been in love should be able to relate to - whether you spent Valentine’s Day all alone or together with your better half.

The opening track, Gleaner, features Spragga Benz commenting on Chevaughn’s lamenting about a lost love and a difficult period of transition, telling him to move on and forget her. The riddim sounds airy, with an R’n’B-ish piano and an uptempo beat. All compositions on Hopeless Romantic are aimed at giving maximum exposure to Chevaughn’s soft, dynamic voice with that trace of melancholy that never turns bitter. The contrast to Spragga Benz’ voice couldn’t be sharper.

Head Over Heels has a better outlook: Chevaughn proclaims his love to a girl he saw on the cover of a magazine, and asks her what it would take to make her his, admitting that he might be called crazy. I Didn’t Know looks at love from an entirely different angle: the girl that he had been in love with had turned him down, but now that his feelings have faded, she calls and wants more.

The second last track on Hopeless Romantic is a striking reggae adaptation of John Legend’s This Time. Chevaughn closes with Unfinished Song, an attempt to confess his love that sounds much better and thorough than the title might imply.

Chevaughn is a hopeless romantic indeed, more of the Bitty McLean kind than like Beres Hammond. This House Notice Productions and Frankie Music-produced EP showcases Jamaica’s youngest and most promising rookie crooner. Hopeless Romantic is a must for any lover’s rock fan, and Chevaughn a name you should definitely keep track of.

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