Charlie 'Tweet' Keys starts off this album by quietly telling us the dramatic story behind it: she was, she says, on the verge of suicide before her friend Missy Elliott urged her to rekindle her musical career. We can be grateful that Missy turned up when she did, since Southern Hummingbird is one of the most quietly impressive RandB debuts of the year so far. Instead of shouting for attention as so many of her rivals do these days, Tweet uses her pure voice much more delicately, crooning her way through a series of haunting reflections on self-respect, alcoholism and betrayal. The tastefully crisp production, meanwhile, comes courtesy of Timberland, whose right to appear on every decent soul album these days must surely be enshrined in the American constitution before long. By the end Tweet is in rather better form, exultantly shrieking "It feels so good! I've done my album!" That you can forgive her even this outburst of egotism is a fair indication of just how good she is.
