An intimate but weak testimony

India.Arie is one of a handful of recent artists who are keeping R&B music alive and well. Similarly to counterparts such as Jill Scott, Mary J. Blige, Lauryn Hill and Erykah Badu, to name a few, Arie blends her beautifully tuned voice with modern day hip-hop rhythms and instrumentation to create a unique style that is still reminiscent of Motown and R&B artists of the past such as Minnie Riperton or Tammi Terrell. Arie's first two albums, Acoustic Soul and Voyage to India, were both very enjoyable records that toyed with an array of different styles and sounds, while also featuring very intimate lyrics by Arie. Although her new album, Testimony: Vol. 1, Life & Relationship, is similar to its predecessors, it falls below average due to a lack of musical diversity (even with a number of musical guests including electric bass maestro Vic Wooten and folk rockers Rascal Flatts) and a reliance on overly heavy, often uninteresting lyrics.\nAccording to the liner notes' opening letter to listeners, Arie had been working on Testimony for a tedious three years and saw the album as a way to share her emotions about a failed relationship, her path from "female" to "woman" and a her testimony about how her heartbreak rejuvenated her life. Real deep and sappy movie of the week kind of material.\nTestimony opens with a beautiful stripped down ballad, "Intro: Loving," with a darker sounding Arie on the piano and vocals. The piece seems to promise an album that will in fact be more intimate and sorrowful than her previous records, however, as the album progresses this notion is muddled by a slew of mediocre filler tracks that just can't keep the listener interested. \nThere are a couple highlights that make the album worthy of purchase for fans of Arie's previous projects. "The Heart of the Matter," an interesting take on a Don Henley song, features a simple, yet beautiful string arrangement and Arie in her vocal prime.\n"Better People" is one of the more upbeat pop tracks on the disc and is reminiscent of prime '70s era Steve Wonder who, if you remember from Acoustic Soul's "Wonderful," is one of Arie's biggest influences.\nTestimony is no doubt India.Arie's most personal project to date (the liner notes feature six full pages of thank you notes, ramblings about the recording process and countless shout-outs to those who inspired her) and from the Vol. 1 title it's completely feasible that this is part of a series of albums channeling the young artist's newfound enlightenment. Like her previous records, Testimony is enjoyable simply as background music, however, despite the album's intimate overall message, very few tracks stand out as stellar songwriting that warrant repeated listens.