Julie Dexter/Peace of Mind-Maybe you've heard of her, maybe not. All I know is that I heard her remake of "Never Will I Marry"--which just happens to be my theme song, or rather, one of many--and I thought to myself,"not bad, not bad at all." You see I have this thing about remakes--if you add nothing, don't do it. Someone needs to plaster that on walls of studios across the world to avoid the number of sub-par remakes my poor ears must endure on the yearly, but anyway back to Julie. Apparently she's from England, Jamaican, and has been around for a while as the lead singer of the British group J-Life. Recently she's moved to the states, I suppose to cash in on the US audience since, from what I've heard, she's captured the hearts and ears of her English peers. Well, what can I say, her EP "Peace of Mind" is good. I guess it's necessary to give an idea of the type of music she does to get you cautious individuals to support a sista. Well it would be easy to say, "she's like Amel Badu Scott," but that would be unfair and misleading. Besides, Jill, Amel and Erykah have little in common besides the fact that they're black and make music. Julie has a varied style that can't be easily pigeonholed into that mythical "neo-soul" category (not that any of the above artists can be either). She shows her versatility on this rather short offering. On the first track, "Ketch a Vibe," which happens to be one of my favorites, she smoothly sails (heh, alliteration and imagery in one fell swoop) over a jungle-y track, but not the uncomplementary sort of forced jungle-y track that too many people are trying to get away with these days. There's an organic feel (read: instruments are involved) to it and it complements Julie's vocals perfectly. Next up you get "Burning," which also appeared on the "Chocolate Soul" compilation. When I first heard it, I found it okay, but I like it so much more now that I've heard the entire EP, it just fits better. Next you have the title track, which is a smooth, laid-back track talkin' bout, you guessed it, finding/attaining/keeping "peace of mind." It's a nice track, also better appreciated within the context of the album. Next is a track that displays her versatility, not to mention her carribean roots. "Sweet Dub" makes you want to sway, but not to a V103 degree, there's a nice amount of bump involved also. Sway, headnod, repeat. Good shit. The last actual song--the rest of the tracks are short interludes--is the crowning jewel of the collection. "What Do I Do" has Julie questioning what to do now that she's found her beau to be another word that begins with "b" (think real hard). She decides, in my favorite moment, that she "can do it, all oooo-ver-er-ah-er-ahhhh." Do it Julie, do YOU girl!!!! She really displays her vocal ability on this one, half-scatting, half-singing near the end and making me rewind the damn track too many times to be proud of. Which leads me to a discussion of her voice, it's smooth. She has the kind of voice that is easily imaginable as a perfect voice for jazz (not contemporary, but jazz) or any other medium that requires attention to cadence, melody and pure emotion. I guess that's why I liked her rendition of my signature piece, but that's just me. Anyway, if you haven't figured it out already, I like the album, go get it. Support Julie and she can make money and keep putting out music, that simple. Get it? Good.