Tshepo Mokoena 

Boyz II Men: Collide review – enough genre-hopping to give you whiplash

The R&B group still know how to layer a gorgeous harmony, even if their latest lacks musical focus, writes Tshepo Mokoena
  
  

Boyz II Men
Musical magpies… Boyz II Men Photograph: PR

In an ideal world, R&B crooners Boyz II Men would have stuck to their new jack swing roots. But 23 years since their debut, they’re lobbing just about every genre against the wall to see what sticks – for the most part, it’s just confusing. As a body of work, Collide snaps from sounding like Chris Brown’s slick hybrid of bass-heavy hip-hop and R&B to Evanescence’s weepy piano balladry to Jack Johnson’s inane acoustic guitar beach-pop. It’s enough to give you whiplash. Or, in the case of Already Gone’s dubstep breakdown and odd staccato vocal chorus, it might just result in a dull headache. Regardless, Nate Morris, Shawn Stockman and Wanya Morris (no relation) still layer a gorgeous harmony – even as a three-piece minus Michael McCary. Atop jazzy chords on Believe Us, and amid Don’t Stop’s funk drive, their voices retain the silky quality that first catapulted the group to fame in the 90s, and no amount of disconcerting Auto-Tune or unfocused genre-hopping can taint that.

 

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