A few new blurbs <3
A Fine Frenzy – One Cell in the Sea (B)
Alison Sudol, commonly known as “A Fine Frenzy”, is an American singer-songwriter who has a beautiful voice and an excellent ear for soothing melodies. This is her debut album, and is mostly filled with pleasant sounds and melodies. Unfortunately, not a lot stood out of its own on the album when I was casually listening to it several times during exam period. Out of the tracklist, the single “Almost Lover” was definitely a stand out with its bittersweet lyrics and sorrowful singing from Sudol. The other track that I remember off the top of my head is “Rangers”, the track that comes before her debut single. It has a fabulous chorus with interesting lyrics that caught my attention the first time I listened to it: “And the rangers stream out if their cabins / They are the hunters / We are the rabbits / Maybe we don’t want to be found”. It’s pretty obvious that Sudol is a fabulous lyricist, but listening to the album casually really does nothing for the album. Maybe I’ll like it better when I write a full review for it.
Arashiro Beni – GEM (A-)
Arashino Beni, currently releasing music under the name BENI is a Japanese pop-R&B singer with a beautiful voice. I think I’ve made it pretty clear that I don’t care for this girl’s earlier material. After listening to her latest Universal material, I decided to give her last album a try, and it was surprisingly pretty good. I’ve always liked “How Are U?” and “Luna” has always been a passable ballad from her. What I didn’t realize was that she has much better tracks on this album. There are some pretty catchy R&B tracks on this song, including the first few tracks. “Paradise” is a lovely, breezy tracks, although her voice is a little bit strained on it. I think my favourite track is her studio live version of 恋文, which is probably my favourite off this album. I’m definitely not dissapointed from picking up this album.
Girls Aloud – Out of Control (C+)
After listening to this Tangled Up, I decided to dive into this British girl pop group’s latest effort. To my surprise, this album is nowhere as good as their previous album. A lot of their singing problems show themselves a lot more clearly on this album, and it’s especially annoying when one listens to a solid pop track, such as their single “The Promise”, which is a catchy song, but littered with a lot of bad singing. Much of the songs don’t really catch my attention after that. “Untouchable” is a notable track, but goes on for far too long. “Revolution in the Head” is rather catchy, and probably closest to the stuff they had on their previous album with a stronger dance feel. “Live in the country” is amusing with the animal sounds, and the catchy beats. Otherwise, there’s not much here. I’d recommend Tangled Up over this.
Savage Garden – Affirmation (A-)
I’ve always really liked this Australian pop duo ever since they first came out, but I never sat down and listened to their album all the way through. Surprisingly, this album is pretty good. These guys know how to write good pop music, and it shows throughout this album. “Affirmation” is an excellent mid-tempo opener with some beautiful accompaniment and excellent singing from Darren Hayes. This album isn’t complete without the slightly cheesy, but really pretty “I knew I loved you” in the mix, and the march-like “The Animal Song”. The ending of the album, however, sizzles down to some filler tracks that I really don’t remember that well, but I remember they were uninteresting and bland. Either way, this is a still a solid pop album.
