Tamar Braxton - Calling All Lovers (Deluxe) (2015) Lossless

Tracks:

01. Angels & Demons (3:05)
02. Catfish (3:33)
03. Simple Things (4:18)
04. Broken Record (4:08)
05. Never (3:08)
06. Circles (3:23)
07. If 1 Don't Have You (4:15)
08. Raise The Bar (3:38)
09. 1 Love You (2:20)
10. Makin' Love (3:44)
11. Love It (2:30)
12. Must Be Good To You (3:10)
13. Free Failin' (3:35)
14. King (3:28)
15. SON. (3:04)
16. Coming Home (4:40)

Tamar Braxton's return to music in 2013 could not have gone much better. Love and War debuted at number two, featured a number one R&B hit and two additional singles that either scraped or peaked near the Top Ten. Three Grammy nominations resulted. Follow-up Calling All Lovers is wrapped up like it offers even more theatrics. Braxton isn't smiling in any of the photos contained in the booklet, which is made to look like a newspaper titled Tamartian Times. (Braxtonian Beacon was likely never considered; "Tamartian" is a nod to her followers). The album starts in scattered fashion with some neo-reggae, a retro-modern midtempo groove that evokes breakbeat-driven early-'90s productions, and a church-ified ballad. After those three songs, the album stabilizes, sliding between a number of plush ballads and sophisticated but bumping slow jams. Heartache prevails during the first half and crests with "Never," an authoritative and elegantly paced kiss-off of an inappreciative lover. The latter half is mostly about devotion and awe, while the back-to-back "Love It" (all booming bass, tapping keyboards, and rattling percussion) and "Must Be Good to You" (light and springy disco-funk) turn it up several degrees with Braxton offering firm declarations of her sexual power. Calling All Lovers doesn't merely offer more than what its packaging suggests. It might not feature a single as big as "Love and War," but it tops that song's parent album. [A Deluxe Edition added two bonus tracks, "S.O.N." and "Coming Home."]