KT Tunstall
Eye to the Telescope
(Relentless/Virgin)
First Appeared in The Music Box, February 2006, Volume 13, #2
Written by John Metzger
KT Tunstall is the latest in a seemingly never-ending stream of artists from the U.K. who, after conquering the charts in their homeland, have turned their attention to the North American market. Although her debut Eye to the Telescope is a far cry from perfect, it does contain enough promise to suggest that she might be one of the few who deserves to succeed. The biggest problem with the album, however, is that too often Tunstall undermines her material by catering to mainstream forces. Not only are her lyrics largely unexceptional ruminations upon relationships, but when she attempts to fuse Coldplay with Dido on Other Side of This World or, worse, dabbles in the gentle, straightforward folk of tracks like Under the Weather and Heal Over, the end result is merely pleasant but dull background music.
Still, Tunstall’s ambitions undeniably are huge, and there are times on
Eye to the Telescope when what she is singing matters less because her
melodies and arrangements manage to lift her songs to a higher realm. On
False Alarm, the album’s finest track, she deftly tucks The Beatles inside a
heady, haunting swirl of Radiohead-esque dreaminess. Elsewhere, the supremely
soulful Through the Dark meets Norah Jones on her own turf; the brisk,
organic gallop of Black Horse and the Cherry Tree is utterly
irresistible; and although Miniature Disasters may be too polished to
matter, buried within its shimmer is the rhythmic creak of Tom Waits.
Unfortunately, one gets the sense that Tunstall might be more focused upon
achieving commercial viability than she is on crafting a grand, artistic vision.
If that’s true, it’s a shame because if she’s so inclined, she clearly has the
talent to transcend her current flavor-of-the-month status. 
Of Further Interest...
Eye to the Telescope is available from
Barnes & Noble. To order, Click Here!
Ratings
1 Star: Pitiful
2 Stars: Listenable
3 Stars: Respectable
4 Stars: Excellent
5 Stars: Can't Live Without It!!
Copyright © 2006 The Music Box