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Album Reviews
This two-CD set from Monday Michiru compiles a handful or so tracks from her four seasonal EPs and fills it out with new music exclusive to this album. And what an album it is. There are 20 tracks that cover a range of styles from bossa nova to soul to jazz (both trad and acid) to pop and beyond. If she never released another record, this one ensures her place -- even if Americanskis have no idea who she is and she's one of their own. Think Sade with a wider range, or Lauryn Hill if she didn't have to rely on hip-hop to get over, or Erykah Badu with more musical diversity, and you still can't come up with the entire picture. Michiru may have come up with the acid jazz generation that launched the Brand New Heavies, but musically she's left them all behind. Here is a woman whose vocal and songwriting chops are so far above her peers she can't get a record deal in the U.S. From the sparkling soul meets bossa of "Fallin'" (on which Michiru plays a killer flute solo), to the lush, emotional jazzscape of "Afternoon Dream," to the "Barefoot and Pregnant" version of "Chasin' After the Sun," with its slippery, airy funk, to the shimmering torchy grace of "Something to Believe In," to the LaBelle-driven funk & roll of "Do It Again," Michiru covers all the vocal bases and digs deep into enough emotional soundscapes to lend her adventurous nature weight and dimension. There isn't a singer on either side of the globe who has this much class or natural ability and who uses it this beautifully. Brilliant and moving. ~ Thom Jurek, All Music Guide
Track Listing
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Hallelujah Alexandra Burke |
| What any music lover needs to do before listening to this very familiar track, written by Leonard Cohen and made famous by Jeff Buckley, is put their X-Factor prejudices on hold. After all, it's about the music, talent and voice, right? In any case is it such a bad thing that we have a popular talent show to find good singers? The only reason it polarizes people is the love-hate relationship that the populace seem to have with the the rather clever, opinionated and vocal Mr Cowell. This, however, should not detract us from the fact that Miss Burke deserves her place in the limelight and with a lot of work her talent is bound to flourish. She is undoubtedly a great singer - her comparisons with Leona are totally unfounded, as she has a completely different personality & style and the tone to her voice is more Braxton than Mariah. In any case, doesn't the UK have room for 2 extremely likeable, young divas? As far as the song is concerned, she sings it with passion, sounding great on the radio, especially towards the end of the 3 minute 33 second running time, where she warbles her way effortlessly through some of the high notes of the chorus. We should ignore the fact that the team behind the production have changed the arrangement of the song in order to shorten it for broadcast (by leaving out some of the verses) making it incomprehensible lyrically and just enjoy its ability to make the hairs on the back of your stand on end. A deserved UK number one record. Stuart A. Copyright © Shazam Entertainment Limited 2009. All rights reserved. | |
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