Alice Russell- Pot Of Gold
6/10

Alice Russell’s voice is renowned for its soulful depth and soaring strength, but on the opening track of her fourth album it sounds like she’s either been singing too long and has shattered her vocal chords, or she has been inhaling helium. I saw her at the Union Fish Co. building a few years back and she was on top form, as powerful as I was powerless to her crazily strong and loud voice. We all marveled at this tiny English girl who sounded like a classic motown diva. So naturally I was excited and intrigued to hear her latest album when word broke about it. I don’t remember her sounding like this, though. The material on Pot Of Gold often sounds more harsh, less deep and less soulful; perhaps it is the more orchestrally illustrated recordings and the more high-pitched singing she does on this album. It’s very crisply produced by T.M. Juke, her partner in crime, but it seems like every good track is separated by a slow dud. Her trademark sass and wit stays strong throughout though, and there is more of an amped up Motown feel in the shuffle of the drums on many tracks. But I am wary of her threatening slide into jazz-house. Playing in Auckland with Sola Rosa, Cian, Bevan Keys and Toni Cooper at Sale Street on January 31 and in Wellington at Sandwiches on the 30th, not to mention the notes of “house” and “uplifting jazz” in the press release has me worried. But I’m sure the spunk in Got The Hunger? will endure in providing her trademark squeal that continues to pump life into her classy r&b. I needn’t have worried, as any great singer she just takes a few songs to warm up! And it does get better, what’s possibly the best song on the album, Hurry On Now, is buried at the end of the album, coming in second to last. This album will please the fans for sure.
Sarah

 

Posted by Sarah Gooding under Album, Reviews
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