After two albums, yours truly honestly had his fill of Etana's mix of reggae and r&b, but 'Better Tomorrow' came somewhat as a surprise. Etana wanted to evoke a live-feeling with 'Better Tomorrow' and that results in an album that sounds a lot warmer than its two predecessors. Don't bother looking for well-known riddims on 'Better Tomorrow', there simply aren't any (although we seemed to recognize a fragment of the Please Be True riddim in 'Silly'), but somehow that doesn't really feel like a deprivation. Etana was pregnant with her first child during the recording of 'Better Tomorrow', and makes sure you won't forget as in 'Till You Get Old (Life's Gift)' you can even hear the sound of a woman giving birth (no, unfortunately not Etana herself). 'Reggae' is an ode to the music that is so dear to us and has already become a small anthem. Title track 'Better Tomorrow' has the cross-over feel of a classical Third World track, but our personal favorite is 'Queen', a sturdy feminist one-drop statement by the new queen of reggae!