Jessica Mauboy – Been Waiting

Jessica Mauboy – Been Waiting

Review by Mawunyo Gbogbo

Most of the songs on this album are soul-searching monologues of love gone awry. But Jessica Mauboy sure gives heartbreak a sweet melody. When I dropped into the record store to buy this album, the music guru on the other side of the counter told me it was ‘flying off the shelves.’ The official sales figures may or may not confirm this to be the case, but the saleswoman said the popularity of the new release was twofold. She put it down to Mauboy’s live performance at the Sydney Opera House for the Australian Idol grand final; and the strength of her first single ‘Running Back’ featuring the US rapper Flo Rida.

Attracting Flo Rida’s attention was a major coup for the 19-year-old Darwin-born singer. ‘Running Back’ is not only a hot track, but it’s prompted many to take notice of this fresh new face in Australian R & B. Jessica Mauboy was the runner up on the fourth series of Australian Idol and is the product of a unique cultural mix. Her mother is an Indigenous Australian and her father has a Timorese Indonesian background. He was reportedly instrumental in encouraging his daughter to audition for Idol.

Read what you will into the title of the album. ‘Been Waiting’ is the name of one of her catchy tracks, but it could also be argued that Mauboy has been waiting for her time to shine. Although she’s courted R & B on this album, her roots are in country music. She was a 14-year-old schoolgirl when she won the Telstra Road to Tamworth competition in 2004.

I would be tempted to call this latest effort Mauboy’s debut album. But it would be remiss of me to neglect to point out that she actually released her first album ‘The Journey’ in 2006. It contained a bunch of songs she had performed on Australian Idol. She also briefly joined the group Young Divas before they released the album ‘New Attitude.’ But I’m sure I’m not the only one who would consider ‘Been Waiting’ to be Mauboy’s true debut.

The album is short and, as they say, sweet. The standout tracks are ‘Because’ and ‘Empty.’ Both songs are melodious and lyrically beautiful, plus they give Mauboy the chance to showcase her vocal range. The song ‘To The Floor’ is also a good one and is likely to be a hit on the club scene if released. The album features Mauboy’s latest single ‘Burn,’ which is currently doing the rounds on radio. I wasn’t crazy about the inclusion of Mauboy’s rendition of ‘Time after Time’ on this album. It’s a song Cyndi Lauper released before Mauboy was born and felt out of place amongst the mostly original material on this record. But the positives definitely outweigh the negatives on ‘Been Waiting.’

While Mauboy’s fans are apparently keeping staff at record stores busy, she’s already moved on to her next project. The singer has scored a role in the nation’s first Aboriginal musical, Bran Nu Dae, which is being remade into a film, 18 years after it was a stage hit.

It appears the wait is over for Jessica Mauboy. With her star on the rise, there’s little doubt we’ll be hearing a lot more from her. She has delivered a solid effort on ‘Been Waiting,’ which is likely to please her fans. After all, Mauboy has demonstrated she even has the ability to make a broken heart seem fashionable.

I always have trouble finding the proper review to a certain album. You sometimes hear a song on the radio, but don’t really know if you like it or not. Thank you for the post, I think that this Jessica Mauboy album is worth buying and I will probably get one on my next visit to the mall. You should write more reviews.