Jason Walker follows up a string of successful club hits with his debut full-length release "This is My Life." Walker obviously has a real affinity for New York's vibrant House scene, which is reflected both in the tracks and in his choice for production duties with luminaries like Hani, Fumi Kondoh, and Junior Vasquez turning the knobs, though throughout the CD it's really the strength of Walker's own gender-bending diva drama vocals, bearing a remarkably close resemblence to the marvellous Kristine W. at times, that gives the album its vibrancy.
As "My Life" is released on Junior Vasquez's own label, it's no surprise to see that Vasquez himself handles the bulk of the production duties like title track "My Life," where galloping Tribal beats are contrasted with fluttering high-pitched keyboard lines, "Anything," reminiscent of Vasquez's own late 90s Tribal classics with Walker testifying over the pounding and stuttering beats, or the lovely "Crossing The River" where Walker strikes more of a sensitive blue eyed soul vibe reminiscent of Scritti Politti's Green Gartside over the frothy beats. The sunny Pop-House cut "Reaching," with its warm bassline and soulful background vocals, is another of the notable Vasquez productions as is the uplifting charmer "Believe" that emphasizes Walker's confident crooning over a swaying percussion track.
Hani takes over for the throbbing big room club track "Foolish Mind Games" and focuses on a deep bass and percussion arrangement with Walker's vocal floating over the top while the Dynamix-produced "Movin On" offers a densely pounding aural underlay for Jason's urgent vocal. Rousing Rock fusion track "Set It Free," one of the album's definite standout tracks, sees Chad Jack creating a mix of hard-hitting synths and raging guitars for Walker to wails over and Haydee 'E-day' Riviera concocts a hypnotically pulsing background on "Anything" that lets Walker's intensely delivery play out over the incessantly driving beat.
While multi-producer outings often lack a cohesive stylistic unity, that's not really the case on "My Life" as all of those working here seem to share Walker's vision of creating thoughtful and uplifting House tracks that fuse an underground musical vibe with the commercial appeal of fully realized, well sung songs and the trio of full-length club mixes from Tony Moran, Mike Rizzo, and Junior Vasquez added at the end of the CD works successfully as a bonus while still keeping the mood of the album going.
