Sandi Thom Feat. Joe Bonamassa // This Ol’ World

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It’s Sandi Thom, but not as you know her.  She’s back with this blues influenced song featuring the blues-rock guitarist and vocalist Joe Bonamassa (with whom she toured as support at the end of last year).

Gone is restraint of what a label wanted and now we’re hearing the sort of thing that she wants to write. It’s a great little number with a fantastic rhythm and great guitar and a great way to introduce the new look musically. It’s the first single to be lifted from the new album, Merchants & Thieves (released 17th May 2010) and sets the style for the whole album.

Hopefully current fans will accept this new style for Sandi as well as attract newer fans and help shrug the ‘I Wish I Was A Punk Rocker’ days aside.

Rating 5/5

Gabriella Cilmi // Ten

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Gabriella Cilmi returns with album number two aptly named, Ten (one reason that has been cited by Gabriella herself is the fact that this year her birthday is 10.10.10). If you’ve heard the debut, Lessons To Be Learned, then Ten is likely to come as shock to the system. In fact, it’s Gabriella, but not as we know her

The opening track is also the first single, On A Mission, which many will know by now has a very retro yet futuristic sound to it. This literally sets out the flavour of the entire album; retro with a modern twist. Hearts Don’t Lie has a Disco feel whilst What If You Knew keeps the pace up with the same sort of style. 

Love Me Cos You Want To continues with the electronics and sounds like something maybe more expected from the Eurythmics and slows the pace a little in time for the first proper ballad, Defender. Superhot again picks up on the disco feel before heading into Boys, which, if it was possible, should be an alternative track for Wii Fit’s step aerobics.

The last three tracks herald back to the feel of Lessons To Be Learned, albeit with an electronic twist, showing that Cilmi hasn’t forgotten that which grabbed the media’s interest. The bonus track is a 2010 remix of Gabriella’s first single, Sweet About Me, and basically brings it up to date with the album style as a whole.

As I said at the start, this is not the Gabriella that we knew from Lessons To Be Learned. Not only has she worked with previous producer Xenomania, she’s also worked with the likes of Greg Kurstin (Lily Allen, Little Boots), Dallas Austin (TLC, Gwen Stefani, Michael Jackson) which probably explain the whole sound of the album. She’s matured and ready to take a risk by completely overhauling her sound for the new album.

Whilst maybe not what was expected, the overall sound of the album reflects the current style flooding the music scene at present (with the likes of Lady GaGa, Little Boots etc.) and this may mean that she won’t be as prominent as she was with the release of Lessons To Be Learned. However, in saying that, it’s a solid album that should do well, maybe even attract newer fans. It’s definitely proved that she’s ‘On A Mission’ to show that lessons have been learnt.

Rating: 4/5

Track listing
On A Mission
Hearts Don't Lie
What If You Knew
Love Me Cos You Want To
Defender
Robots
Super Hot
Boys
Invisible Girl
Glue
Let Me Know
Superman
Sweet About Me (Twenty Ten Version)

Amy Macdonald // A Curious Thing

 
Standard Edition
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Deluxe Edition
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Vinyl
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Amy Macdonald with what some would describes as the 2nd difficult album, especially after how well the debut, This Is The Life did. Can this second helping from the Scottish singer/songwriter topple this?

Once again, Amy draws on everyday events to inspire her songs and the lyrics reflect this. The opening track and lead single, Don’t Tell Me That It’s Over throws you straight into the album with it’s powerful electric guitar opening and Amy’s powerful lyrics reflecting on how we can change things before it over but how we have to do it for ourselves. No Roots is an odd little track. It starts of acoustic before building into a full scale, multi-instrument track (reminiscent of the song Let’s Start A Band from This Is The Life).

Love Love  could be viewed as Amy’s first attempt at a love song and is purely a fun little number. An Ordinary Life (one of the last songs to be added to the album) was inspired after attending her first film premier and seeing how everyone reacted and being glad that she does have An Ordinary Life. My Only One is a beautiful ballad which is, as Amy has said, about losing people who are close to you.

The tempo and mood are lifted with This Pretty Face, which is a dig at the world being concerned about how people look outward rather than looking at who they are, not what they are. Next Big Thing is another dig at the music industry and how, throughout the year new artists are topped as the next big thing, and most after one song or album fade into obscurity. The closing track (What Happiness Means To Me) rounds the album off beautifully, starting off quietly ballad like building to a climax, leaving the next chapter to be written.

Overall, it is a good album, but some tracks feel a little unfinished or unpolished. This may have been the look they were going for but it just feels slightly awkward. There are a few good tracks but not many that are likely to single material. If feels like a natural progression for her although it may leave some fans divided as it does have a completely different feel from This Is The Life. Only time will tell whether or not it can do any better than the debut.

Rating: 4/5

Gabriella Cilmi // On A Mission

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Gabriella Cilmi is back and is back with a bang! On A Mission has a retro disco kinda feel to it but is full of electronic sounds and a kicking beat. In a nutshell, it feels like she’s telling her critics that she doesn’t care what they have to say, this is her and that is that. And if you think that the song sounds great, you should check out the video!

This is a great comeback track for Cilmi after a year of absence, and shapes things up for when her new album, Ten (Rel. Date 22.03.10) is unleashed to the public.

Rating: 5/5