Posts Tagged: little voice

2007 / 3 stars / a fine frenzy / reviews — No Comments
6
Oct 09

One Cell in the Sea (2007) by A Fine Frenzy

a fine frenzy one cell in the sea

A Fine Frenzy
One Cell in the Sea
2007, EMI
piano pop
3½

Piano-pop and myself have a love-hate relationship that I have yet to figure out, but was definitely brought up while I listened to A Fine Frenzy’s (aka Alison Sudol’s) debut One Cell in the Sea. The piano sounds great and even Sudol herself sounds great, at least when she’s not attempting to sing at a lower register as in “Rangers,” but I can’t seem to really like this album as much as I should. It could be because Sudol sounds like a little girl playing at being an adult much of the time, or maybe it’s because of over-production and the ever-dreaded Coldplay influences that are rampant. This album is too much of a debut for me to listen to it seriously; the only song I can stand to listen to again “Almost Lover,” and that’s because the beginning chords are lifted from the famous “Part-Time Lover.”

“Almost Lover,” “Last of Days,” “Borrowed Time.”
myspace, last.fm
Sara Bareilles’s Little Voice, Stephanie Dosen’s A Lily for the Spectre

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2004 / 4 stars / june is for women / missy higgins / reviews — No Comments
23
Jun 09

The Sound of White (2004) by Missy Higgins

missy higgins the sound of white

Missy Higgins
The Sound of White
2004, Eleven
piano pop, folk
4½

I came across Missy Higgins through her single “Where I Stood” from her second album. It’s common for me to search for an artist’s first album if I liked their second album, but it’s rare that I then find the first album miles better than the second. The Sound of White is Missy Higgins at her purest, most artistic form. Her voice, her lyrics, and her song arrangements are spotless and infectious to the point where you end up wondering if she could ever outdo herself in consequent albums.

In fact, after hearing her second album, I couldn’t believe it when I heard how prominent the piano is in this album. The lyrics are honest in a way that Andrew McMahon/Jack’s Mannequin fans will enjoy – soul-baring but coy in its subtlety. Her vocalizations are playful and range the blues, pop, soul, and what I like to call “hushed acoustic.” A literal jack-of-all-trades, Higgins’ debut shows her off in a way that American pop producers couldn’t.

“Don’t Ever,” “Unbroken,” “The River.”
myspace, last.fm
Jack’s Mannequin’s Everything in Transit, Sara Bareilles’s Little Voice

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2007 / 4 stars / reviews / sara bareilles — No Comments
5
Sep 08

Little Voice (2007) by Sara Bareilles

Sara Bareilles
Little Voice
2007, ***label***
pop, soul
4

For someone who supposedly doesn’t want to ‘write you a love song,’ Sara Bareilles has a whole lot of love songs on her debut album Little Voice. But that isn’t the only ironic thing about this album – Bareilles voice is anything but little.

If Jane Monheit decided to sit at a piano and write songs, you’d have Sara Bareilles. Like Monheit, Bareilles has a rich voice that evokes images of smoky lounges instead of huge arenas. Her candid lyrics are mildly interesting, but when sung in her voice they take on an unexpected complexity. I wish I liked this album better, but I like to think of it as a Dido album: nothing ground-breaking or really intriguing, just decent music and a great voice.

“Vegas,” “Gravity,” “City,” and “One Sweet Love.”
myspace, last.fm
Bird York’s The Velvet Hour, Catherine Feeny’s Hurricane Glass

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