This Ain't One Of Them 'Break Up Song's

Oh my Jada. The ladies (to the right, left to right: April, Elle, Lauren and Jacyn) have so much promise and potential, and with every song I hear off their upcoming Universal Motown release, the more I wait on pins and needles. It's been such a long time since we've had a gaggle of relatable and modest young women with genuine talent and humility to match to look up to.

While their first single, the RedOne produced scorcher "American Cowboy" that attempted to parlay the four women of Jada into a four-person version of Lady Gaga, may not have done what it should have for the group chart-wise, it did bring a whole new level of notoriety to the Boston-based girl group who I love so much.

So often do I compare the ladies of Jada to another four-women girl group I instantly fell in love with upon first listen -- Soluna. And now with Jada's freshly released second single, the mid-tempo "Break Up Song", the comparisons once again rear it's head.

Soluna attempted to break through the music scene back in early 2001 with the fun and dancey "Bring It To Me", produced by a hot name of the moment, Mr. Steve Morales. He's written some of Enrique Iglesias best material, and is a frequent collaborator of 'American Idol'-infamous Kara DioGuardi. The song was a fiery, latin-twinged floor stomper about being young, sexy, independant and unfraid to be bold. "I already know that you want me/So what will it take for you to tell me/I'm down for you/To be with you/All you've got to say is bring it to me."

This sentiment isn't alltogether too different from Jada's entrance into the musical realm with "American Cowboy". "I know you know I'm sexy/What would you do/Would you sacrifice it all for me?"

"Bring It To Me" gave Soluna some success, hitting the Top 5 in the Billboard Club Charts. It helped gain the momentum they needed for a Top 40 chart hit with their second single, the beautiful ballad, "For All Time", a song about staying together with the one you love.

Perhaps now you can understand my nostalgia. The girls of Soluna helped solidify and nurture my love for the music industry and promoting up and coming musicians that I believed in. Their pre-mature breakup in 2004 was quite literally shattering to me because I was too young to truly understand the sacrifices needed and roadblocks (both figurative and literal) that consistently attempt to trip a new artist, no matter how talented or deserving they may be. Soluna had so much potential. Now I'm hoping that that potential is being re-channeled into Jada.

"Break Up Song" is quite reminiscent of late '90s love ballads (something Motown Records obviously knows quite well), and its lyrics harken to the Pussycat Dolls major hit "Stickwitu." It doesn't beat you over head with cliched sweeping strings. It's still trendy but still feels much older than it is. With first glance at the title, you may think it's yet another angry girl group telling their collective gentleman callers to hit the highway or else, the soulful voices tell a different story entirely, stating:

"This ain't one of them heartbreak tunes,
Where the boy and the girl never make it through
'Cause you're still with me, and I'm still with you
This ain't one of them break up songs,
break up songs, break up songs"

It's a clear attempt to prove to all of the naysayers out there that this is a legitamite group of young women who deserve your attention. All four members of the group can not just sing, but belt with supreme intensity -- yet, their control and timbre on this song is the real star of the show. In the hands of another, this song could be stretched and pulled with vocal hysteronics until it is completely unintelligible. With Jada, it's just perfect. It's not too much, it's not enough, it's just right.

Let's just hope the public sees that this group 'ain't one of them' cookie-cutter dime-a-dozen girl groups. That would be the biggest tragedy of all.

You can hear "Break Up Song", along with "American Cowboy" at Jada's MySpace. Both are available for download at iTunes. Do your part, Melismatic readers!