Tamar Braxton
's first album as an independent artist, following associations with
Dreamworks
and
Epic
, arrived with the singer's announcement that it would also be her final full-length.
Bluebird of Happiness
was presumably made with fewer creative restrictions, yet there's no indication that
Braxton
was stockpiling left-of-center ideas, as it's a straightforward set of mature commercial R&B.
Rodney Jerkins
,
Troy Taylor
, and
Vincent Berry
are among the collaborators who supply the kind of slick, sophisticated grooves and airy backdrops that have typified
's major-label efforts. As with the likes of
Love and War
Calling All Lovers
, it's emotionally fraught more frequently than it is content, cresting with the two-timed belter "My Man" and wrenched finale "Empty Boxes." The best of the few throwbacks neatly twists
Evelyn King
's "Love Come Down." ~ Andy Kellman