Chantal Chamandy - Love Needs You

Overproduced Artist

Absolutely beautiful woman with a top notch make-up artist and minimal talent. How she has gotten as far as she has is a mystery to me.... January 19, 2008

Beautiful Chantal Chamandy

This is another album which I would've liked to discover sooner. Recorded in Montreal at `Caverene Studio', `Love Needs You' is perfect listening material when I want to read, write online or whatever. It's pretty, charming and colorful, yet lacking in upbeat, dancy tunes. Mostly based on ballads, the CD is fine but I prefer the first half. My favorite track is #4 (Crazy) with its upbeat arrangements. Overall, the album is fine but I wish the songs weren't so monotonous at times. Perhaps it's because of Chantal's voice...I don't know. Perhaps she could've experimented with the lower register of her voice, since everything is done in a higher register.

My best friend introduced me to Chantal sometime back, and I too, took little notice of her until playing this CD. Chantal's voice is sharp, clear and soothing without popping my ear drums. In more ways than one, it's easy for me to say that she can easily be compared to Ofra Haza, mostly due to the striking similarity in their voices and the pop-influenced Arabic sound. The ability to mix styles together so well is an art in itself. I'm not trying to say that Chantal is continuing where Ofra left off, but it's refreshing to discover another artist with the striking song-writing similarities. Throughout the 20-page booklet, Chantal looks like a young version of Sarah Brightman. Sex sells, yet Chantal's concept of `image' isn't cheap. In fact, she's quite the lady and her mature photos are just perfect, proving that she's not just another product of today's commercially-based pop industry. As well as looking mature, she's hip, cultured and exactly where it's at. The closeup photos are gorgeous and feature a winning, selling smile and her beautiful, expressive eyes.

Chantal's expert song-writing abilities won't go unnoticed by me, that's for sure. And they shouldn't go unnoticed by anyone else either, which leads me to talking about her as an underrated artist. Why only three reviews? Is she that unknown outside of Canada? Born in Egypt and living in Montreal, Chantal is the perfect example of underrated, under-publicized Canadian talent. Hopefully when she releases another album (Which I'm anticipating), she'll be better-known in and outside of North America.

About the packaging...I think it's beautiful. The jewel-case is housed inside an orange/gold-tone, ornate paper sleeve with turquoise accents and a stunning photo on the front and back. The 20-page booklet features lots of gorgeous photos, lyrics and credits, all with the same orange/gold theme. The disc itself is quite the jewel, featuring gold/orange/black grillwork with turquoise jewels design with Chantal's name and album title around the center of the disc. It's really pretty and attractive to the eye. If it were any fancier, you could almost smell incense burning in the background!

Tracklisting:
01- Zindegi - 4'14
02- You Want Me - 3'54
03- More - 3'32
04- Crazy - 4'01
05- Feels Like Love - 3'59
06- Take a Chance - 4'13
07- Music of the Moon - 3'31
08- Sometimes - 3'35
09- Free - 3'54
10- Nunca Será Igual - 5'23
11- Peace - 3'43
12- Amor De Mi Vida - 5'13
13- Forever - 3'45
14- Salma Ya Salama - 3'35

All songs Produced & Written By Chantal Chamandy Except `Salma Ya Salama'. February 3, 2007

Empowered Woman

I love this CD. I bought it on a whim and now it is one of my favorite CD's. It never comes out of my player. Chantal has a fantastic voice and I love the middle eastern flair she gives to her music. It is very exotic. Probably what I like best is that she approaches her songs from a very woman empowered view. We can be sexual, like ourselves, etc. The more I listen the more I wish she would put out another CD. October 27, 2006

an exotic , global pop star in the making

Chantal Chamandy - Love Needs You
Ninemuse 506010361008

Born in Egypt and living in Montreal, Chantal Chamandy's Love Needs You album is an exquisite and tasteful recording of pop music. Given a chance, there's nothing stopping Chantal from becoming a global pop star.

The album starts off with the anthemic and catchy "Zindegi," followed by the single "You Want Me." The rich sound of Chantal's music is a result of both Middle Eastern influences as well as a host of real musicians playing electric and acoustic violins, carnatic violins, saxophones, trumpets, guitars and tablas, to name a few. The exotic flavour of the album is also as a result that she sings a few lines here and there in French, Arabic, Italian and Spanish. It's works to add to the mood that you're listening to a bona fide international star. Being a tasteful recording, however, she doesn't overdue it on the exotic instrumentation.

The ballad Feels Like Love showcases Chantal's stellar vocals and is a duet with Chico Castillo. Other tracks that I liked a lot include "Salma Ya Salma,", "Music on the Moon" and "Peace,", which reminded me of the light, piano driven music of Moby.

Chantal wrote and produced the all the songs and it's on her own label. Occasionally, she sounds like she's holding back her vocal performance. It should be more front and centre and prominent. Will listeners find Chantal Chamandy to be an exciting and distinctive voice in pop music or will she fail to break away from the multitudes of other promising new artists, many of whom are indistinguishable from one another? As far as I can tell, she's almost unknown in Canada. Her challenge is to play some dates and to prove herself in a live setting. March 25, 2006

Unique talent I'll enjoy again and again!

I checked out her songs "You Love Me" and "Feel Like Love" from this album on her MySpace page where you can hear the full songs, and see the videos and fell in love with her music immediately.

She blends sounds, and languages, from around the world into a unique sound that draws you into the songs unlike any other artist I've heard. March 25, 2006

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