Erika Jayne, ‘Pretty Mess’ ** (out of four)
Bria Valente, Prince’s latest protege included in his three-CD release earlier this year, should be looking over her shoulder. On debut album “Pretty Mess” (El Music), Erika Jayne makes no bones about emulating the luxurious, erotic sounds trademarked by the Minneapolis mack daddy. She even covers Apollonia’s hit “Sex Shooter” and enlists Sheila E’s quaking drums on “Time To Realize.”
Jayne also loves a certain Detroit dancer, spinning as many dance floor seductions as she does silky cocoons for lovers — but both modes lack counterpoints, nor does she fully surrender to the id. We won’t lose our bodies to the music if the singer sounds as if she’s waiting for Madonna’s approval.
The production of the album (from dance-world luminaries Eric Kupper and Peter Rafelson, among others) excels at creating glistening surface texture, but it’s impossible to sink deeply into “Pretty Mess.” It’s too ingratiating in lyric and intent; not only does Jayne want to sit in Prince’s lap, she wants to sit in ours too.
The Parisian cabaret intro to “Everybody Wants Some” quickly scorches into hard-candy synths, and “Roller Coaster,” with its risque chants, will suit a frothed-up dance floor just fine.