DIVINE BROWN

For years, musical powerhouse Divine Brown (formerly Divine Earth Essence) has been quietly carving out her own history on the Canadian R&B and soul circuit. A kid who used to mimic the greats (Chaka! Aretha!) she heard on scratchy vinyl and filtered through radio waves, Divine paid her dues on the exhausting Toronto club circuit before she was old enough to legally hang out in bars, then honed her skills as a live performer with stints on the musical theatre stage, busting moves and belting her heart out as a cast member of shows like Ain’t Misbehavin’ and Rent.

Despite the fact that she didn’t have a proper recording on store shelves, Divine’s effervescent energy and formidable stage presence – not to mention her mind-blowing vocal range – made her a star before she finally released her much-anticipated self-titled debut in 2005. That album, bolstered by the strength of its gorgeous retro single ‘Old-School Love’ – a swooning return to a time of slow dancing and doo-wop choruses – cemented Divine’s reputation as one of the country’s strongest urban talents.

Three years later, Divine has returned with a tour-de-force album, a virtual trip through both the last half-century of soul music and the roller-coaster ride of love dubbed – appropriately – The Love Chronicles.

The Love Chronicles spans everything from bop-shoo-bop secret crush confessions (lead single ‘Lay It On The Line’) to sassy surf ‘n’ soul kiss-offs (‘Bebe’) to sultry late-night neo-soul (‘Next Best Thing’), all held together by Divine’s magnificent, shape-shifting voice. And thanks to expert assistance by a killer band and a team of producers (Slakah the Beatchild, Colin Munroe, James Bryan, Soulfingaz and Divine herself), it’s an album that should catapult her to the stratospheric heights of her heroes.

www.divinebrown.ca