If a guy really liked you in the summer 2007, he’d set J Holiday’s ‘Bed’ as your personal ringtone on his cell. Still, no one can question that song to be one of 2007 absolute best tracks. Not just for the classic, somewhat-tacky-romance lyrics. ‘Bed’ really got a perfect structure. It’s slow, soft and yet it provides a extremely powerful melody. Call me a sucker for popmusic. It wouldn’t be a lie.

The new album is called Round 2 and is released now, two years after the debut Back Of My Lac. The first single ‘It’s Yours’ is a hefty Usher inspired ballad, and it sets the tone to the rest of the record quite well. In J. Holiday land (his bed?), there are no surprises.

Many rnb artists recently found new and creative ways to make music. They turned up the tempo, used voicebox, mixed clean Timbaland-ish beats with tons of echoes and made new things that actually sounded new. J. Holiday was, in my opinion, not one of them. And this classic kind of 90’s rnb sound he never gave up on, have stayed for Round 2. It’s mainly loaded with ballads, both catchy ones like ‘Don’t Go’ or ‘Fly’ and more sad boy band-ish songs, like ‘Forever Ain’t Enough’.

J. Holiday is still having a hard time with the ladies. But unlike Usher (whose strong melodies seem to have inspired some of the tracks on Round 2) the problems don’t seem to be that big of a deal. Usher’s (on his recent album) most common problem seemed to be the concept of love itself - why it wont come back or if it will stop him from having affairs - J. Holiday seems to be quite certain. The issues he raises would rather be if the girl knows how badly he wants her physically. The wailing question he seeks answers to is quite simply the acceptance to pleeease the woman.

And just to make it clear, this is not a sexsongbash. There’s nothing wrong with a little heterosexual softporno to put on when you’re about to seduce some shy boy you intentionally got drunk. But frankly, none of these songs can really reach the level that ‘Bed’ did. The most of them just passes you, a little “love” here and some “kisses” there. No structure, no edge, just a pale version of some cheesy harlequin novel.

One of the trends J. Holiday have seemed to pick up, is the rock guitar. The track “I Tried” and “Homless” both sounds like they were warped through an 80’s rock portal. That may be a matter of taste; a guitar from that era always sounds the same. I, however, don’t enjoy it, and do not accept this as a part of a new rnb-album. Speaking of ‘Homeless’, that’s the only track that’s not suggesting any form of sexual encounter.

This is a nice record, but honestly I think J. Holiday needs a new theme beside the female mystique. And when you know J. Holiday is an artist who has the talents not ruin romance by abuse and force it gets even more frustrating. Come on J. Holiday! Sweep us of our feet, like you used to do.