Katie Melua - Pictures

Beautiful follow-up

De in Georgië als Ketevan Melua geboren, maar na haar verhuizing naar Engeland verhuisde en beter bekend staande als Katie Melua , is inmiddels 23 en begiftigd met een krachtige stem en prima songwriting skills. Haar debuut (Call Off The Search , 2003) zorgde meteen voor een top-40 notering en 1,8 miljoen verkochte exemplaren. Piece by Piece (2005) werd zelfs viermaal platinum. Het succes eiste een tol: de relatie met Luke Pritchard (lead singer van The Kooks ) werd verbroken. Dan kan een songwriter twee dingen doen: sad songs schrijven of het leven fris tegemoet zien. Geproduceerd door Mike Batt is Pictures het resultaat.

Pittoresque ballads, van Mary Pickford (Used to eat Roses), dat gelijkenis vertoond met The Beatles' Eleanor Rigby tot In My Secret Life: donkerbruine doorkijkjes. Vijf ervan schreef Metula zelf, waaronder Spellbound en What I Miss About You. In My Secret Life werd samen met Leonard Cohen geschreven. If You Were A Sailboat is de eerste single en een goede intro van dit naar haardvuur en winternachten riekende album. If The Lights Go Out en Scary Films bevatten meer positiefs en humor. En hoewel het licht reggae-getinte Ghost Town een beetje out-of-balance is, mag het best ter afwisseling. De luchtige brasspartijen aan het eind van Ghost Town en in Dirty Dice zijn lekker. De met jazz, folk en acoustic overgoten ballads verdienen een replay. Voor liefhebbers van bijvoorbeeld Over the Rhine of Annie Lennox's Songs of Mass Destruction is Melua een aanrader. January 11, 2008

Melua's "Pictures" Worth Keeping

Prime Cuts: What It Says on the Tin, Scary Films, If You Were a Sailboat

Born in Soviet Georgia and grown up in the United Kingdom, Melua's accent gives her a leg up over her contemporaries. For instance, the way she vocally influxes her ending notes is truly beguiling. Further, Melua is also an assiduous student of contemporary music. Perfecting the torch-like balladry of Norah Jones and picking up the hook-laden musical proclivities of Jann Arden, Melua certainly has created yet another album that is a nice crossover of contemporary jazz and pop music. While many singer-songwriters tend to indulge in lofty issues over non-melodic constructions, Melua's charm is that she takes simple (and at times even naïve) observations and builds little love stories around them. Relative to her previous couple of albums, nothing much has changed. Her longtime scribe Mike Batt is still responsible for the lion's share of the songs' genesis. However, this time the boundaries have been stretched when a languid version of Leonard Cohen's nod to post-modernity "In My Secret Life" is included.

While some men are praised by their paramours for their sensitivity or good lucks, Melua in "Scary Films" lauds praises over her lover for helping her chase away her nightmares. Though the lyrics on a cursory level may sound childish but coupled with Melua's girlish vocal twirls over its enchanting dreamy melody, "Scary Films" is so enchanting that one feels transported right into a fairy tale. Again utilizing the same "horror" theme is "Ghost Town," a forlorn broken hearted jazz ballad with a slight touch of Hank Williams' blues. While the newly composed "If I Were a Sailboat" (not that old Lyle Lovett song of the same title) may be faulted on its use of inconsistent imageries, it has a magical cull that squarely captures the romantic vertigo of falling in love.

Just as "9 Million Bicycles" was the gem of her last CD, "What It Says on the Tin" is this record's masterpiece. The gentle strumming of the guitar, the lush gush of a string-laden ensemble, and the sensuous fête fetale-esque vocals all are winsome ingredients to this exquisite and well-written love song. The fine attention paid to the lyrical content of "What I Miss the Most" is another fine example of why Melua and co-writer Andrea McEwan's writing is so engaging. However, just like her previous efforts, there are a few fillers. The mid-tempo "Spellbound" takes a break from the ballad-heavy slant of the album. Unfortunately, it suffers from too much chord changes and melodic twisting. While the light samba feel of "Perfect Circle" is acceptable without being spectacular.

Nevertheless, "Pictures" is the perfectly apt title for this disc. With the use of acerbic word pictures, unexpected motifs and picturesque language, the vignettes Melua paints through each of these 12 paeans are indelible. Never overindulging in the lethargic pandering of some jazz records and never assenting to the non-melodious gibberish of some singer-songwriter's CDs, Melua's "Pictures" is a keeper. October 13, 2007

TOO MUCH CHANGE-MISS THE OLD KATIE

How I waited for this album! The voice, the melodies, the memorable songs. I was so looking forward to another masterpiece by Katie and got what some might call a sophomore jinx for a 3rd album. Did she change producers or writers? If you're looking for catchy tunes like Spider's Web or Call Off the Search, The Closest Thing To Crazy, or Nine Million Bicycles, you're going to have a hard time finding it. The most memorable tracks will be What I Miss About You and If I Were a Sailboat and interesting that the company picked these as singles because they are the most "Katie Melua" sounding that is on the album.

The rest of the songs seem like they have little energy or memorable choruses. They just seem to be floating in the air and I can't relate to any of them. I understand artists attempting new sounds but to completely change like this was too much. Like when she did My Aphrodisiac Is You, it still worked for the album. It was still Katie with great lyrics and a great catchy sound.

Many songs like this Spellbound are just songs that I couldn't even finish because it's just not the sound you go for when you buy a Katie Melua album. It's like buying a Sade album and getting her doing grunge. It's too much change. Change is good, but when you completely alter your sound or make songs that you can't relate to them. I wish she would attempt a few new sounds but with the same team from her last 2 albums. October 1, 2007

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