……“So In Love With You” is a languidly-paced, nearly melancholy number, but features shattering high notes that would make Philip Bailey and Mariah Carey jealous. That sunlit song with Ms. Avery, “Darling Be Mine,” is a sensual, lilting ‘come hither’ duet, ripe with an elegance, tenderness and ‘old-world’ level of courting that most in the ‘new world’ can’t imitate or imagine.

As compelling as Abiah’s originals can be—the mid-range, yet galvanizing inspirational mantra “Little By Little,” for example, and the haunting void conveyed in “Gone”—-his artistry is also demonstrated by the intriguing approach he applies to Tina Turner’s “What’s Love Got To Do With It” (titled here as “What’s Love”), making it more bewildered by the emotions than brash, and his take on Beyonce’s “Crazy In Love” is one that combines a rarified blend of earnestness and obsession: Abiah’s crooning whisper of the refrain “Got me hoping you’ll page me right now/ your kiss got me hoping you’ll save me right now” feels like a lonely drive around the block with torturous memories riding shotgun as a half-empty bottle of wine sloshes around under the passenger seat, not a raucous demand to feed a consuming desire (okay, keep pretending you’ve never been in that position before, I’ll wait)…..but his rendition definitely still moves you.

The centerpiece of a recent NYC live performance release party, Bottles….(please click here to get the full review at soultracks.com)