3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Dull as dish water, May 14, 2008
This review is from: So Much Beauty (Audio CD)
I am not sure what Kate's objective was with this new disc, but it is clear that very little time and effort went into it. We hear a bunch of dreary cover versions, sung in a very prosaic and perfunctory way by Ms Ceberano. Kate Ceberano still sings in a somewhat unsupported way, has a "squeezed" timbre and she mainly from the throat. She hums a bit, too.
The album actually sounds like a couple of people listlessly performing some songs in a lounge room, to kill some time.
I don't mind cover versions if the artist brings something interesting to the song, reveals something new about the song, offers a significantly different and stylishly new interpretation, or simply a fresh and engaging approach to familiar material. Martha Wainwright's very engaging and amiable Rock interpretation of the Eurythmics' "Love Is A Stranger" on her new album is an excellent example of an interesting, effective and engaging cover version. Nothing on Ms Ceberano's album can hold a candle to Martha Wainwright's one cover (and everything else Martha sings is new and original AND her album outclasses Kate Ceberano's in every way).
Kate Ceberano sang Disco/Funk songs in her old group 'I'm Talking' with great panache and pizzazz. She performed Jazz standards with great effect, too, in the 1980s. Now, Ms Ceberano seems to gravitate between being a "Rock Chick" manqué and being a boring daytime TV show singer. Heck! Even Delta Goodrem at most safe, boring and mainstream is never as dull and apathetic as Kate is on "So Much Beauty"! Ms Goodrem's material is crappy and humdrum, to be sure, but at least she writes her own material (most of the time) and she does sound like she is interested in singing it. My impression of the lack of sincerity and feeling in Ms Ceberano's interpretations on "So Much Beauty" is so strong it is almost tangible.
I dunno, maybe Kate can't write songs? I suppose that doesn't really matter, I guess. But why couldn't she choose some songs and really do some real work on them? Delve into them, learn them, make them live in a new and interesting way.
I suspect that Ms Ceberano has believed her own hype for far too long and that she has not had any critical analysis of her work spoken within earshot of her. Such is a pity, because Kate Ceberano is a talented singer and she is capable of many things ..... I think! .... I hope!
"So Much Beauty" is jejune and the profound lack of effort on display on this album (seems that she wants our cash for doing as little as possible) is something of an insult to fans of Ms Ceberano. "So Much Beauty" does send out a message and that message seems to be: "I really don't have a lot of time on my hands and I'd rather be doing something else, but I hope I still have enough fans with money to buy anything I release, especially 'churned out' stuff like this."
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