Wow yeah, I totally forgot I wrote these.
Jem ~ Finally Woken
If you lived in America, you’d have heard of Cardiff-born Jemma Griffiths, aka Jem. In a Dido-esque reversal of convention, the 29 year old British singer is already a huge star in the United States, yet a relative unknown in her native land. You may have heard the advert on TV, the one where Jo Whiley sings Jems praises, exclaiming that she’s the hottest new star around. Believe her.
Reminiscent of Frou Frou, Dido, Beth Orton, Rachael Yamagata and Butterfly Boucher, Jem’s sullen and beautiful voice cuts a swathe through any preconceptions you have upon hearing the first track on the album. The eclectic mix of dramatic strings, acoustic guitars and electronic beats is most notable in the track “24”, where the lonely strumming meanders into heavy theatrical instrumentation, then all of a sudden jumps right into sharp electric strings.
There isn’t really a bad song on the album, each is suitably different, yet has that trademark experimental Jem sound. Not bad considering she does the tunes and the words. Melancholic yet angelic, “Finally Woken” is a relaxed journey through a chilled-out forest, perfect for listening to while preparing for a romantic evening indoors. Not quite a masterpiece, but she’s getting there.
You can tell she grew up with Adam (Rez) Freeland.
Nine out of Ten
Girls Aloud ~ What Will The Neighbours Say?
These five young girls will certainly never be credible artistes. They shot to fame on what is little more than a glorified Talent Show/Popularity Contest, with their chart positions falling as quickly as the memory of Popstars: The Rivals. They only co-wrote 5 of the 14 tracks on offer, and mime at live events regularly. Yet, this album demands a place in history as a decidedly relevant sign of the “Corporate Marketing” times.
The track list has clearly been manipulated by the “Guys in the Boardroom”, all the singles have been shunted to the front in chronological order. By no means a bad thing, you’ll find yourself singing along to the catchy, electronic-’50’s vibe of “The Show”, jigging along to the unstoppable juggernaut that is “Love Machine”, and rocking out to “Wake Me Up”, performing the air guitar motions in front of the mirror.
But then you get to the stuff you’ve never heard before, and you find yourself drifting off. It quickly descends into bland, nondescript, whiny ballads and cheese tracks. If only they had mixed up the track listing a bit, jumbled the old and new, popped “Love Machine” between the similar sounding mess of “Real Life” and “Here We Go” to keep the excitement up. There is no way on Earth I could recommend the second half of this album to anyone.
What Will The Neighbours Say? They’ll be too busy dancing to the first half to care, but once Track 6 hits, they’ll be screaming “Turn that average sized slice of generic rubbish down”.
Four out of Ten
Modest Mouse ~ Good News For People Who Like Bad News
Energy, vitality, exuberance, anything but modesty. Shaking off the bleak, tortured robes of old, Modest Mouse confidently stroll through the halls of commercial viability with this relative departure from their normal sound. Rightly or wrongly, they seem to be fishing with a more mainstream hook, without losing any of their artistic integrity. From the blaring, raucous horns of “Intro”, to the so very nearly danceable beats of “The View”, this change from the depths of indie to the dizzy heights of modern rock is so very beneficial to Modest Mouse.
“Bukowski” sticks out as an immediate favourite, with it’s unique carnival-esque echoes rushing through you. Much can also be said about the lead singers rise in confidence towards his own voice, being able to go from ambling, light and melodic, to explosive, passionate, almost threatening, but always reflecting the meaning of the words in his tone. With style and humour, Modest Mouse pull off this experimental new sound admirably.
A synthesiser and a banjo? My, how very eclectic.
Eight out of Ten
Tori Amos ~ The Beekeeper
It’d be easy to dismiss this as yet another concept album from Tori Amos, but it’s not so. The tracks on offer are strong in technical merit, and the story-lines interwoven throughout the album are written and sang with immense passion. The themes that Tori covers with intelligence and maturity include personal and romantic relationships, morality, myths and legends, the role of femininity in todays society, even the Christian Patriarchy. She has clearly grown up and learnt a lot, this album is more polished and accomplished than any of her previous efforts.
Highlights include a stunning duet with Damien Rice on the track “The Power of Orange Knickers”, their voices surprisingly complimenting each other, and the title track, The “Beekeeper” is heart wrenching as Amos confronts the fear of her Mothers mortality. “Parasol” is a musical triumph, it is so laced with anger and regret, and is balanced on a typical personal conflict regarding whether it’s good to let the bad feelings out, or keep them bottled up.
It is a glimpse into her soul, but that can be a double-edged sword. For those of us who know the history, we will be in on the in-jokes. For those that don’t, they’ll probably see it as yet another middle-aged female pop artist wailing about personal tragedies. The genre is hard to pin down, also, as the mix of styles and pace feel as though both pop and folk are and pulling in opposite directions.
One strictly for the fans, but it is yet another Tori Amos album that encapsulates her heart and soul with a beautiful depth and meaning.
Seven out of Ten
I don’t write reviews anymore. Especially not music ones. You can see why.
