The surprise breakthrough of Les Nubians version of Sade's mellow and soulful ballad, "The Sweetest Taboo," helped their American debut, Les Princesses Nubiennes to achieve a higher position on the Billboard charts than any other French-language album in the previous decade. The sweet, seamless harmonies achieved by sisters Helene and Celia Faussart made an already hypnotic song intoxicating. So, it is no surprise that in their follow-up effort, One Step Forward, that those harmonies sung in the same soft, rounded, African-inflected French language would charm in the same way. What seems less successful are the English language efforts, especially the radio-friendly first single, "Temperature Rising," which features a stylish, if somewhat out-of-place rap delivered by Talib Kweli that seems grafted on. The sisters' trademark smoothness is diminished when they sing in English, which becomes even more obvious on their reggae-flavored duet with Morgan Heritage. Here the sisters flow from English to French throughout the song, and you can almost feel them tensing up and straining whenever they switch. Thankfully, though, such stumbles are few and far between on the album. Recorded in Jamaica, One Step Forward as a whole has a lulling, laid back, tropical feel that seems to effortlessly encompass jazz, African rhythms, R&B, pop and electronic sounds. ~ Stacia Proefrock, All Music Guide
Alberto D'Ascola (Vocals (Background)), Hopeton Hibbert (Bass), Morgan Heritage (?), Morgan Heritage (Vocals), Marc Baptiste (Photography), Mike Ross-Trevor (Assistant), Tkae Mendez (Producer), Frederic Couderc (Flute), Souleymane Diamanka (?), Nicolas Gueret (Brass), Marcia A. Escoffery (Vocals (Background)), Xavier Derouin (Guitar), Talib Kweli (Rap), IG Culture (Vocals (Background)), Yvette Ebengué (Stylist), Justin Henry (Make-Up), Popolipo (Guitar (Electric)), Celia Faussart (Vocals (Background)), Philippe Nadal (Strings), Ray Lema (Keyboards), Philippe Henry (Brass), Dave Dar (Engineer), Yvan Jego (Guest Appearance), Volker Sträter (Percussion), Robert Mitchell (Fender Rhodes), Nicolas Gueret (Brass Arrangement), Anouch Adjarian (Vocals (Background)), Tkae Mendez (Engineer), Sébastien Theurier (Artwork), Christophe Briquet (Strings), IG Culture (Producer), Jacques Largent (Percussion), Tom Herbert (Bass), Mounir Belkhir (Engineer), Christophe Morin (Cello), Tkae Mendez (Programming), Richard Bona (Bass), Sébastien Levy (Strings), Alberto D'Ascola (Guitar), Nicolas Gueret (Horn), Mounir Belkhir (Producer), Manu Dibango (Marimba), Demus (Engineer), Lee Hamblin (Mixing), Souleymane Diamanka (Guest Appearance), Robert Mitchell (Piano), Benjamin Biolay (String Arrangements), Mario Canonge (Keyboards), Philippe Henry (Horn), Karen Brunon (Strings), Tish (Hair Stylist), Yvan Jego (?), Demus (Mixing), Emmanuel Binet (Double Bass), Alessandro Sorisini (Drums), Christophe Morin (Strings), Renaud DeGreef (Percussion), Randy Matthews (Vocals (Background)), Benjamin Biolay (Arranger), Christophe Dutray (Brass), Bertrand Cervera (Strings), Esta (Vocals (Background)), Les Nubians (Producer), Helene Faussart (Producer), Richard Bona (Vocals), Irène Tasambedo (Vocals (Background)), Memmalatel "Mr. Mojo" Morgan (Percussion), Les Nubians (Arranger), Alberto D'Ascola (Producer), Nicolas Gueret (Horn Arrangements), Ray Lema (Piano), Finn Peters (Flute), Helene Faussart (Vocals (Background)), Zaza (Vocals (Background)), Richard Bona (?)
