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Pebble to a Pearl is a bit of a gem, a true blast of retro-soul that helps push Costa out of the nu-diva pack and into her own distinct groove.
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With this album, Costa comes defiantly into her own.
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Costa was often overshadowed by the slick production on her previous two albums; here, her vocals are foregrounded in the mix, and the depth and range of her performances really shine.
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On Pebble to a Pearl--an authoritative, refreshingly organic pop-funk manifesto featuring musicians who've played with Al Green and Stevie Wonder--the exhilaration of liberation literally screams from R&B workout 'Can't Please Everybody.'
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At the end of the day, however, Pebble to a Pearl is still a great record, radiating and capturing a nostalgic vibe that would sound faked and forced in the hands of others.
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Though blessed with a singularly smoky, supple voice, she simply lacks the material; Pebble is, incongruously, too smooth to turn into a pearl.
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The result is Costa's most natural-sounding record by a mile; compared to the jittery electro-funk of 2001's "Everybody Got Their Something."...Yet as any Winehouse fan knows, soul music needs a little unease to transcend baby-making utility, and with none of that here, Costa's creation occasionally comes off like a well-appointed museum piece.