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Tiombe Lockhart has been hustling her hot vocal talents for an indie-neo-soul minute now, dropping arresting guest spots with PPP, Waajeed, and Kingdom. It's good to see her, as the frontwoman for Cubic Zirconia, taking root in fertile ground. Her voice is the centerpiece of the trio's debut album, providing a diverse yet distinctive core that underpins the album's stylistic explorations, digressions, and triumphs. From a whisper to a yowl, she guides her listener through a range of emotional states that speak and sing volumes. Follow Your Heart's songs and sounds run the gamut from Chicago house to new- and old-school hip-hop to classic quiet storm R&B, largely awash with the fresh wave of neo-soul that Lockhart rose to prominence. The title track, an electro workout just shy of five minutes, would have benefited from Lockhart's vocals, and the rambling "I Got What You Need" feels a bit amorphous, belying the talents of those involved (particularly those of collaborator Dam-Funk). But overall, this raucous, sprawling, messy album follows in the tradition of some of the best pop/soul albums in recent memory (Erykah Badu's New Amerykah, Part 1) and in the canon (Sly & the Family Stone's A Brand New Thing).
