Harmonik’s Jere’m: album review

By Christine Jean-PierreCSMS Magazine Staff WriterHarmonik’s debut album confirms to the world and to all Konpa lovers in particular that it is indeed an elite band. This comes as no surprise to many watchers in the Caribbean music industry, for the band founder and director is Nickenson Prud’homme, who has already made a name for himself in the industry. Prud’homme is one of the top music arrangers, composers and producers out there. Artists from all over the world come to his studio in Miami to get a share of his skill at producing what comes to be known as the NEW KONPA LOVE.                   But the album itself is not a true recipe for this new, popular genre.  It is a well diversified album, where music lovers and admirers from all sort of genres can find something to rejoice. That is what makes Harmonik a great Konpa band.            The cover portraits the three members of the band: Mac D, Nickenson Prud’homme, and Dener Ceide. All look sharp and handsome in their white professional business suits.    The album starts with a musical intro, introducing the band with a symphony recital, where one can hear an amalgam of sounds in the background. Each sound is basically saying the name Harmonik in multiple languages. Tracks like True Love, Sa Pa Bon, My Woman, Ur secret, and Please love me truly describe the group diversity as a nontraditional Konpa band.            The second track Harmonize n’ is the band’s theme song, which is a traditional, old school Konpa. The song is sung by the band’s lead singers Mac D and Nickenson Prud’homme and arranged by Nickenson Prud’homme and Dener Ceide. As all traditional Konpa songs, the song is an appeal to all music lovers and all Harmonik fans in particular to go out, dance and celebrate life to a harmonious groove.            The third track True Love starts with an acoustic guitar solo and then smooth out with a Konpa Love/R&B type beat. The song is sung and arranged by Nickenson Prud’homme. The song lives to its name, describing a man’s passion for a woman he is falling in love with and how he wants to be with her for the rest of his life. The song has a fantastic breakdown beat, where after the second verse an acoustic guitar is playing as a transition into a danceable Konpa beat that will ultimately send dancers into seventh heaven. The song also showcases Prud’homme as a true singer, and not just a plain keyboardist.            The fifth track Sa Pa Bon is just a plain traditional Konpa Love track. It is sung by Nickenson Prud’homme and arranged by Dener Ceide and Nickenson Prud’homme. The song is about a gentleman who wants to prove to his girlfriend that he is a good guy, and that everything he does to prove his love to her is being always turned down because she always believes that he is being unfaithful to her. The song has the type of melody that one can dance to and play at parties.            The twelfth track My Woman is a more like an international techno up beat song that can play in American hit radio music stations. Sung and written by Mac D and Dener Ceide, the arrangement was done by Nickenson Prud’homme and Dener Ceide. The “love” theme is always there, depicting a man’s love and devotion for a woman he has fallen in love with. This type of song could reach international success and play in hit radio stations all over Europe and Asia.            The thirteenth track Please love me is like a sensual lovely music ballad with mostly the guitar and the keyboard playing harmoniously. The song is sung by Mac D and produced by Mackendy Talon. The song is about this guy who wants to give his heart and devotion to his girlfriend who lives far away. This song has the ability to touch one’s soul. It also showcases Mac D as a wonderful singer with a voice reminiscent to Puerto-Rican singer, Marc Anthony, although many observers have already disputed that.            The last track Ur Secret is a smooth Konpa Love club-banging track that can move everyone on their feet at parties. Nickenson Prud’homme sings it.  The song also shows Prud’homme’s range as a talented singer that go both high and low range.            Harmonik’s album is an album that has songs for any type of Konpa lover and it has a few songs for people who favor r&b and pop music. It is an album filled with songs dealing with relationships gone great to worse. Harmonik is a three-man band; all are impeccable musicians with impressive talents that will certainly enhance the Haitian Konpa for years to come. We can only hope that the band stays together, for too often before, we come across great talented artists that we can only enjoy their talents for few seasons. They usually disappear even before the public gets a chance to get a good grasp of them.            Being a three-man band gives Harmonik a strategic advantage to stay in business for a long time. The band just needs to discipline itself. Jere’m is a nice album that establishes Nickenson’s credentials and also it is an album that all music lovers would not regret to have in their repertoires.Also see  Jude Jean: the forgotten prince of the nouvelle generation Kenedy: La nouvelle princesse of zoukMilca: New Haitian diva crowned in Paris while Konpa is breaking new groundsDwindling record sales forces Zouk producers to call Konpa to the rescueZouk music producers have turned into Kompa to boost record sales