Sivion Mood Enhancement Illect Recordings Urban/Hip-Hop 09-20-2005

SCORE 84%

Everyone wants to be happy. If there's one thing that everyone on earth has in common, it's that they'd prefer to be happy than sad. The differences start cropping up when comparing the various sources of happiness. Some people find happiness in material possessions. Others base their happiness on life's experiences. As Christians, our happiness should derive from the knowledge of God's love for us and the eternal consequences of our spiritual choices. If that were our focus, our happiness would be secure, unshaken regardless of the circumstances we find ourselves in over the course of our lives. Mood Enhancement, the debut release from Deepspace5 member Sivion, focuses on this notion of contentment and the proper perspective of happiness in our lives.

Intermingling casual interview segments about what makes people happy, the album asks the listener to consider the source of our emotions. Tracks like "The Search" and "Fly So High" remind us that there's more to this life than the material possessions that we can attain. Sivion offers faith in God as the answer to all the questions surrounding the way to achieve peace and comfort. "Glamour Shots" serves as a charge to get our souls cleaned up and properly aligned with God's will rather than just focusing on our outward appearances. "Let Me," which features guest appearances from Phonetic Composition and Sivion's old group Phat K.A.T.S., focuses on witnessing to others with our actions. The crew of Deepspace5 also makes a guest appearance on the album, blessing the track "Down But Never Out" which discusses the stability of hope and joy when it's rooted in God.

The music on Mood Enhancement varies greatly throughout the album, from the odd rhythm and effects used for the lead single, "Out of the Blue" to the smooth, straightforward cadence of "Flood Gates." Using the sound bites of various interviews ("What makes you happy?") and some quiet segments to aid in the song transition, the album tends to keep the listener bouncing around between tempos and styles such that it's difficult to sink into a comfortable rhythm as the album plays. Individually, the tracks sound great, each with a fresh sound and noteworthy elements of production, instrumentation or use of rhythm, but as a collection the flow is somewhat shaky and slightly off-kilter. As a result, the album at times is difficult to follow and relate to.

Overall, Mood Enhancement is well worth taking the time to dig into. Sivion and his guests provide a lot of thinking material with the extraordinary lyricism. Despite minor gripes about the album flow, Sivion is obviously a talented emcee and producer and Mood Enhancement provides a solid exhibition of his creative abilities and that's certainly something to be happy about.