Esp

Album Review

The System was way ahead of its time with their early embrace of MIDI/synth technology and the otherworldly sounds they could produce. Coupling that with top-notch songwriting skills, the duo scored a number one R&B/number three pop hit with "Don't Disturb This Groove" from the album of the same name. At the end of the '80s, singer Mic Murphy and keyboardist David Frank parted ways. Frank went on to co-write and co-produce multi-platinum hits with Steve Kipner: Christina Aguilera's "Genie in a Bottle" and 98 Degrees' "The Hardest Thing." The start of the 21st century finds Frank and Murphy reunited, bringing about new music from one of pop music's most unique combination. On their Orpheus Music/Avex USA debut, ESP, the System evolves in order to make music for a new millennium. Gone are the dazzling, hyperactive synth sounds found on past albums such as The Pleasure Seekers. Now the System's sound is sparser (more sonically similar to Frank's work on Omar's For Pleasure and This Is Not a Love Song) but no less engaging. Standouts are the swirling romantic "...Groove"-like "Heaven in Your Eyes," the ode to commitment "As God Is My Witness," the bass-bouncy "Supernatural," the chugging "Midnight Train," and the steppers cuts "Love's Deja Vu," "Good As Gold," and "Soul Food." Their classic "You Are in My System" is revisited as "You Are in My System Version," a tasty slice of trip-hop, just as engaging and pleasingly propulsive as ever with a rap by Prodigy of Mobb Deep. After one listen to ESP, you won't need to be a mind reader to know that the System, David Frank, and Mic Murphy are E-lectro S-oul P-ioneers!