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Editorial Reviews
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When soul music is at its finest, a great vocalist can take you along on a journey into their sadness, loneliness, joy, and passion. When mixing that voice with horns, harmonies, and a bluesy Hammond organ, that same music can seamlessly travel across decades. Many new artists claim to accomplish that feat, but few are sincerely ageless and timeless: Corinne Bailey Rae has those qualities in spades. Rae--a newcomer out of Leeds has created a self-titled CD that occasionally evokes the feeling of a '70s Bill Withers classic, while bringing inflections of Zero 7 and Alicia Keys to her grooves as well. Straight from track one, "Like a Star" displays a restrained soulfulness that shows her strengths through a whisper soft melody. Other standout cuts include the breakup-ache of "Till It Happens To You" and "Choux Pastry Heart," which discloses her jazz-affected timing and the level of powerful songwriting that she is capable of at her very best. In a day and age where a good voice alone can provide you with a golden ticket, it is refreshing to see that Rae has not only written or cowritten every song on her debut, she also contributes guitar, bass, keys, and percussion to the tracks. Her songs have some room to mature, but as a new recording artist in her mid-20s, so does she. Soul lovers, pass the word: this is one impressive debut. --Denise Sheppard
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Corinne Bailey Rae Photos
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More from Corinne Bailey Rae
 Live In London & New York (CD/DVD Jewel Box) |  Corinne Bailey Rae (Dlx- 2CDs) |  Live in London & New York (CD/DVD Amaray) |
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
83 of 91 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Heart-baringly honest,
By
This review is from: Corinne Bailey Rae (Audio CD)
Pop, blues, soul, classic 1970s R&B - all these things are brought to bear in the music of Corinne Bailey Rae, not to mention forming an indie band called Helen when she was 16 and being a big Led Zeppelin fan in her formative years. Rae, 26, has a rich variety of experience making music, including sanctifying Primal Scream songs for her church choir, and this album sounds incredibly assured for a debut. The key track is 'Enchantment', which is utterly bewitching with scratchy backbeat samples and sprinklings of lush keyboards the perfect setting for a voice which simply melts in the ears. It brings summer warmth to a dreich February day, oozing the same languid loving as the single 'Put Your Records On'. Comparisons with Norah Jones are lazy and easily made, but this girl is much more about pop chutzpah than slick jazz sophistication. 'Choux Pastry Heart' is not as flaky an idea as you might suppose, gliding through love gone wrong territory with the tastiest coating on that bitter pill to be heard in a long time. For now, it seems Bailey Rae is required - or has chosen - to stick firmly to the middle ground: songs like 'Breathless' and 'Enchantment' are so inoffensive you wonder quite how those comparisons to a hard-living icon such as Holiday could come about. But one song, the truly enchanting 'Like a Star', left an impression that her true sound - the music she would love to make if not for the interference of producers or chart-worriers - is, if not gritty or grimy, then at least heart-baringly honest. Real soul, in other words. A glowing introduction to a significant talent.
40 of 44 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Born for a moment such as this......,
By
This review is from: Corinne Bailey Rae (Audio CD)
I ain't gonna front. I've been looking forward to this CD since I heard that beautiful slice of soul drenched honey-of-a-single' like a Star'. Yes there has been a lot of hype surrounding this young lady, based on this one toon. Well, I'm here to say that you need to believe the hype on this one. Listening to this CD conjures up images of lazy warm summer days, chillin with a loved one, or outside listening on your MP3 player.
Firstly, let's deal with the voice. She has been compared to Billie Holiday, which is high praise indeed. I'll leave the comparisons up to you. I'll stick to the music. The aforementioned `Like a star' kicks off this CD, and is quickly followed by `Enchancement', which is dream-like lullaby of a love song, beautifully sang. The second single' Put your records on', is a feel-good uplifting summer song, with a great video (see on Corinnebaileyrae.net) `Till it happens to you' slows downs proceedings, with a blues rinsed song of heart break. Things perk up with' Trouble sleeping, a mid tempo offering, which is light and breezy. 'Call me when you get this' is one of my favourite tunes on the CD. With strings and an old school feel running all through it, I hope this is a single release. Beautiful. Things are laid bare, on the Piano led 'choux pastry heart' which highlights Corinne's vocal strength, and range. 'Breathless' is another highlight, a sweet song of the first fruits of love. 'Butterfly' is another gorgeous. mid-tempo, song relating to Corinne's relationship, with her mother. The album ends with,' Season change, another favourite, which deal with life's pain, hurts, and disappointments. All these songs are slow to mid tempo, so for those looking for the latest `club' banger, may be disappointed. This is the kind of CD that you can let play without skipping songs, and it's a grower. All these songs didn't hit me immediately, but the warmth quickly spread. On a side note, the single' Put your records on' has a bonus song' Since I've been loving you', an old Led Zepalin tune, which is available on Itunes. Piano driven slice of soul. HIGHLY RECCOMENDED.
29 of 31 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
A fantastic first album, BUT....,
By
This review is from: Corinne Bailey Rae (Audio CD)
Corinne Bailey Rae captured me with a thick, smooth and alluring voice that is both unique and timeless. This album definately goes back to the heart of R&B as it used to be, back before it became vulgar. What you hear in her singing is fresh and vibrant.
HOWEVER... After about the third track, I noticed a pattern. It's basically her voice + smooth bass building up to a tinkling of little chimes, and trumpets in the background. Basically, it felt like all of the songs were remixes of the SAME song. There is a shocking lack of diversity. I believe that her voice deserves to be laid over better music. This is a very good first album, don't get me wrong. It serves well as a listen-to-before-bed album, or a driving-home-after-a-long-day-of-work album. I'm looking forward to her follow up, hoping to hear something more unique. I believe there is a TON of potential here.
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