Corinne Bailey Rae
Corinne Bailey Rae
(Capitol)
First Appeared in The Music Box, August 2006, Volume 13, #8
Written by John Metzger
There once was a significant buzz surrounding Corinne Bailey Rae, but since
the release of her self-titled debut, the hype has subsided to the point where
it’s now little more than a barely audible whisper. The reason is simple: By
dubbing her the "new Billie Holiday," expectations for the outing were set
unreasonably high. For certain, there is a lot of promise lurking within the
collection. After all, Rae writes her own material; she provides her own bass,
piano, guitar, and percussion accompaniments; she dots her sonic landscapes with
hints of jazz and blues; she’s a talented, emotive vocalist who draws
connections among Marvin Gaye, Bill Withers, Stevie Wonder, Philly soul, Sade,
Erykah Badu, Lauryn Hill, and Jill Scott; and on occasion, she forsakes the
sterility of programmed grooves in favor of the organic sound of a real drummer.
Consequently, as Corinne Bailey Rae progresses, its contemporarily
derived atmospherics slowly begin to slip into the background, thereby allowing
an array of classic soul-pop textures to surface. Nevertheless, the veritable
army of writers and producers that was brought on board to push the effort
towards its completion inevitably left the songs feeling as if the life had been
sucked out of them. Not only are their lyrics mired in cliché,
but also the bulk of their arrangements are inordinately bland. Though the
middle of Rae’s eponymous album boasts a few sparking moments — the delightfully
sunny Put Your Records On, the airy Choux Pastry Heart, and the
dreamy, horn-splattered Trouble Sleeping, among them — too much of the
affair has been polished into easy-listening background music that is suited
more to the style-conscious, Starbucks crowd than it is to anyone seeking actual
substance. Corinne Bailey Rae deserves better. 
Of Further Interest...
Ray LaMontagne - Gossip in the Grain
Daniel Powter - Daniel Powter / self-titled
Corinne Bailey Rae 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