Alice Peacock
Who I Am

(Peacock Music/Toucan Cove/Universal)

First Appeared in The Music Box, February 2007, Volume 14, #2

Written by John Metzger

Over the past seven years, Alice Peacock has assembled a considerable following in the Chicago area. Her recent endeavor Who I Am, however, is meant to win her favor with a national audience. Surprisingly, Peacock doesn’t try to emulate contemporary styles. Although hints of the Indigo Girls, Sheryl Crow, and Tori Amos lurk within her work, the outing mostly sounds like a throwback to the 1970s. Different from the Rest and Baby Come Back, for example, boast grandiose string arrangements that echo the collaborations between Paul Buckmaster and Elton John. Elsewhere, Love goes even further back in time by suitably bending its orchestrations in a psychedelic fashion that draws heavily from The Beatles’ repertoire.

At times, Who I Am's shiny production seems to be at war with Peacock’s intimate reflections, but in the end, her heartfelt confessions keep Who I Am from sinking under the weight of her grand, commercial aspirations. Whether slipping into the soft, melancholy jazz of Time; expressing her repressed anger on Taught Me Well; or singing of survival and perseverance on I’m Still Here, Peacock deftly merges style with substance, thereby transforming the trials and tribulations of her own personal journey of self-discovery into a universally accessible statement about love and loss.

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Ratings

1 Star: Pitiful
2 Stars: Listenable
3 Stars: Respectable
4 Stars: Excellent
5 Stars: Can't Live Without It!!

Copyright © 2007 The Music Box