The Score are a 5-piece group from LA and London who produce, write and compose all their own music. They blend hip-hop, R&B, soul, rock, jazz and pop and they play all their own instruments.

The group comprise of two sets of brothers: Cameron and Taylor Graves from LA, and Nathan and Sean from London. The fifth member of the group is Clyde 'CJ' Wilson who also comes from LA.

Nathan and Sean live in south London while Cameron, Taylor and CJ still live in LA. They met when the US boys were touring in the UK. Nathan was recommended to them by the US guys tour manager. At the time Nathan was a drummer in Amy Winehouse's band but once he met the US guys there was an immediate connection. It wasn’t long before Nathan's brother Sean decided to join the band on bass and so The Score were complete.

Already, The Score have worked with an array of artists including Basement Jaxx, Charlotte Church, Faith Evans, Jada Pinkett Smith, Lindsay Lohan, Jazz legend Marcus Miller, Natasha Bedingfield, Omarion and Rhian Benson.

Opus is their debut album, which was recorded in LA and features production from the likes of Will.I.Am. This is a mix of styles and to be honest I wasn’t too sure what I thought upon first listening.

Seeing the front cover of the album I thought these guys would be pure R’n’B or hip-hop but I was quite disappointed to hear this was not the case.

There are quite a few cheesy pop style songs that have catchy tunes with very cheesy lyrics. ‘Flash’ is probably the biggest culprit for this, with the opening lyrics of: "Going to a party, to find some girls…" which then goes on to: "I just wanna see you flash".

I have to admit I did enjoy some of the cheesy pop that The Score deliver on this album, especially track 5, ‘I don’t mind’. It has an upbeat summer feel to it, with a great bass and melody to hum along to.

From track 7, ‘Sad Song’, through to track 12, ‘Don’t Stop Believin’', the album moves more in the direction of R’n’B and soul mixed tracks, which is a relief as I thought I had been cheated with a look-a-like R’n’B band!

Despite the title, even ‘Chew Chew Train’ is an okay track, I just wish they had left out the lyrics: "…chew chew, I wanna ride it… chew chew train"; and maybe called it something different, but the beat and melody are really good nonetheless.

As for the cover of ‘Roxanne’... Being a fan of the original, I feel that the voices for this song need to be more mature and much rougher. The Score deliver a good effort on this track but it just doesn’t hit all the right spots for me.

I have mixed feelings for The Score, I do like them but there is something that doesn’t sit quite right. Maybe it’s the hybrid genres they use or that they aren’t quite ready for the material they are singing about - which is girls and sex. I think what The Score need is time and experience to grow into their music.

7

Helena Rea