The Heart is a compilation series Tokyo Dawn launched last year after finding themselves with a back log of unreleased R&B ballads. It’s fairly straightforward, but certainly enjoyable if this is your cup of tea.

My only real complaint with the compilation is its homogeneity. All of the songs are of the slow jam/quiet storm variety, which makes listening to the album from start to finish a little bit of a chore. However, as individual tracks, there are plenty of great songs. A Race of Angels and GB’s “Love is the End” has a great slow shuffle and nice use of jazzy guitar to compliment some smooth male vocals. “Amends” by Bobby has an interesting syncopated beat juxtaposed with chimes and choral background vocals that mix with some funky rhythm guitar. Vindahl’s “Down” sounds like it could be at home on any Junior Boys album. “Story I (Living Together)”” by Gotta featuring Lene Riebau sounds like an Erykah Badu song, namely “Plenty” from Guru’s Jazzmatazz Streetsoul. “Balance” by Sean Haefeli is one of the most interesting songs in the collection to me, as his phrasing reminds me of Del the Funky Homosapien but he’s singing an R&B song that features piano, muted trumpet, and drums played with brushes.

Track by track, there are more than a few artists that got my attention, it was just getting through the album in from start to finish that presented a problem. This isn’t an indictment of the artists involved, but rather a grievance with the way the compilation was put together. A few slow R&B songs are great, but I imagine that these songs would go over much better if we had more diversity to spice things up and keep it interesting.