Maverick
2006
I Will
About This Album
Though she was signed to Madonna's Maverick label in 2003, it took Detroit native MoZella a few years to put together her debut album, I Will. First came the 5-song self-titled EP in July of 2005, and then, after some delay, the full-length -- which contains everything off the EP -- was released in November of the following year. Despite her many connections to her labelhead (including a strong resemblance to her: the back cover of the album almost looks like it could have come from the Ray of Light photo shoot), MoZella sounds a lot more like Nelly Furtado (Whoa, Nelly! urban-rootsy Furtado, that is, not Timbaland-era Loose Furtado) than the Material Girl. With a voice like Macy Gray or Norah Jones, she sings melodically interesting pop songs full of introspection and vulnerability countered with just the right amount of bitterness. I Will is an album for pop music fans who want to expand their boundaries without crossing over into indie territory; it's got a little more edge and a little more soul than most other major label releases, but it's still very safe and accessible, and though Mo's lyrics can be pretty good ("Was I just killing time, was I just filling space/Sitting on a land mine, sipping drinks that were laced," from "Killing Time") they're never too abstract or pretentious, and they're always about what everyone wants to hear: love, both its ups and its downs.
Track List (try tracks 1,2,3,4,5,6,8 and 9)

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.