Kristinia DeBarge Feels The Rhythm Of Summer Nights That Happened Before She Was Born

noah | July 28, 2009 10:00 am

Our look at the closing lines of the week’s biggest new-music reviews continues with a roundup of reactions to Exposed by Kristinia DeBarge (who does happen to be related to the other musical DeBarges, in case you were wondering): • “Exposed really does unveil DeBarge, who’s set to open for Britney Spears this fall, as a complete package and a music marketer’s dream—a teenager who can sing grown-up songs and make them feel young, and feel comfortable with everything from hip-hop to Celine Dion ballads. Her wait to break into the public eye is about to be so totally worth it.” [Glenn Gamboa, Newsday] • “Exposed‘s airy, girlish pop—especially cotton-candy Casio grooves like ‘Future Love’ and ‘Died in Your Eyes’—mostly recalls the female stars of her dad’s era: Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam, Paula Abdul, and (coincidence?) Exposé.” [Leah Greenblatt, EW] • “So although DeBarge, who’ll open Britney Spears’ arena tour later this year, has nothing unique to say about falling in or out of love, what she does have—strong tunes, a nice voice and an ample supply of freshfaced charm—is far more important. She’s best in two tracks co-written by another savvy recycler, Ryan Tedder of OneRepublic: ‘Future Love,’ originally recorded last year by the ill-fated boy band Varsity Fanclub, and ‘Speak Up,’ which Tedder also produced in his signature emosoul style (think of Leona Lewis’ ‘Bleeding Love,’ Beyonce’s ‘Halo’ or Kelly Clarkson’s ‘Already Gone’). Neither is shocking; both are awesome.” [Mikael Wood for Tribune Newspapers, in a review that I’m pretty sure was filed before yesterday’s “Halo”-“Already Gone” contretemps hit the wires] Kristinia DeBarge [MySpace]