Customer Reviews

Urban Angel (Dig)

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Let me begin by saying if you are considering this album, buy this version. The other two import versions sold on Amazon do not contain two very lovely tracks: Crush and the Thievery Corp. remix of Quicksand.

In terms of composition, Urban Angel reminds me so much of my cherished Mandalay Solace album. Arrangements are simple yet rich - filtered only for what conveys thought and emotional while leaving behind the superfluous elements that plague most over-produced albums. Nothing seems out of place. Nothing seems pretentious. Urban Angel is honest music ... music that takes unmissable aim at the heart.

Urban angel is a crafted album with a central theme revolving around facets of love: love lost, love sought, love found, love disillusioned, love unrequited, love that never was. Every track's score and lyrics are masterfully intertwined. Urban Angel is a complete album and not a patchwork of designed-for-radio singles. (As a related aside: The album cover art is brilliantly chosen. The simple sepia photo framing Natalie's unadulterated, beautiful face with her piercing gaze mirrors the musical experience within).

Compared to Daughter Darling (Natalie's previous band who realeased one of my favorite albums, Sweet Shadows), Urban Angel is more stripped down and more emotionally exposed. It's less experimental, more organic and more melodic. With its more universal musical and lyrical refrains, Natalie's solo album should speak to a wider audience.

Natalie's voice is unmistakable. Fans of Daughter Darling will immediately find home again in her sultry but innocent vocal performance. She has a charming tendency to slur her words as if one continuous thought.

Of the hundreds of new albums I've listened to thus far this year, Urban Angel is a stand-out. The more I replay it (almost always from start to finish), the deeper my appreciation grows. I have little doubt Natalie's solo debut will continue to be a staple in my collection. And if you've come so far as to read her album's reviews, I have little doubt you that you will not regret making Natalie Walker's Urban Angel part of your collection too.

Nice eclectic mix of genres that's great for night driving. One thing that kinda bugs me is that there are two different versions of the cover song "Colorblind". After buying the CD and listening to it, the album version is different from another copy of the song that I downloaded. Can't figure out where this other version came from (I don't see it listed on any EP's or anything). Both versions are good, the album version sounds a bit more elextronica/trip hop, and the other versions sounds more acoustic.

Anyway, if you enjoy singers like Emiliana Torrini, Niccola Hitchcock, or Norah Jones, you'll probably like Natalie Walker's Urban Angel.

"It's just you and me
and no one else..."

More sultry than Norah Jones and with touches of ecstasy (like Beth Orton and Sarah McLachlan) in her vocal appeal, Natalie Walker doesn't just sing her songs, she breathes beauty into her music with an unparalleled charm.

Soft and dreamy, this is an escape into solitary contemplation, memories and sultry moods. Chill dreams throughout keep the music within a relaxing nighttime mood with the appeal of falling helplessly in love.

"Waking Dreams" is a very intimate beautiful and heavenly song that is reminiscent of dreamy safety or a fantasy of a magical life. The layering of vocal tracks makes this dreamy and ecstatic.

The atmospherics in "Circles" is gorgeous and emotionally fulfilling. The ecstasy in her voice really appears in this track.

Quicksand has heavier beats, but the lyrics are still sweet and naïve. "Convincing me that this was really lo-o-o-o-ve." The way her voice reverberates in "love" is cute. She tells a story about believing and then being disappointed. We love her for her innocence and wisdom. "All you do is take" on "Right Here" is blended in with especially high piano notes that emphasize the pain and make the song very pointed. Stunning.

"Red" has a more classical feel at the start, but the music melts like a marshmallow over a flame. By this time you are in such a dreamy haze you can't see straight. "Colorblind" is much more perky and wakes you from your trance. "Not the End" dips you back into the "Right Here" mood. The last three songs sort of slip into the night.

The first time I heard Natalie Walker's voice I had to listen to this entire album. I didn't take the time to get my headphones and can I say on a second listen, this is so beautiful with elements that appear magical on headphones.

"You are far too much beauty
for this world."

~The Rebecca Review

My Definition of Electronic:
It's a term that I hear and see a lot of in the pop music category. Electronic - it's not overbearing or overproduced. It's a mixture of music and sounds that give a definite setting for the world our ears often bring to our mind's eye. You can hear the wind blow, the rain fall and heartbeats. The music helps to illustrate the lyrics. Just listen to this CD and you will understand.

Urban Angel by Natalie Walker
Natalie Walker lives in Philadelphia, but she's from Indiana. Oh, it makes me proud to be a mid-west gal. Natalie's first solo debut is fun, elegant, funky, self-describing, romantic, sexy and haunting. Her lyric writing is incredible and the CD's first single, "No One Else", was featured on the HBO series, Entourage. You might also be familiar with "Quicksand" - it was played during the trailer for the film Marie Antoinette.

If her voice sounds familiar, that's easy to explain, too. Natalie is a former member of Daughter Darling. Her voice is so clear and fresh and her lyrics enunciated with sultry sweetness that tell stories and bring characters to life. I love that quality. I have a high respect and admiration for singer/songwriters. As I writer, I appreciate what it takes to envelope a moment in time into a short story. I can't even begin to imagine trying to plot and characterize a song, however, Natalie does an outstanding job on this project.

The first artist I thought of when I began to play the CD was Bjork. I wasn't surprised to find out that Bjork is one of her influences.

Natalie is 25 years old. I remember being 25, um . . . it was, a few years ago or so. It can often be a hard and self-defining age. However, the maturity of Natalie's music and songwriting is astounding and I look forward to adding more of her projects to my collection. I think I need a bigger iPod!

My Favorites

Crush - Electronic raindrops run through this song. A story of love found or lost? You decide.

Quicksand - I love the sound effects on this piece. I could actually hear sand falling behind the crispness of Natalie's voice. The lyrics tell a tale that many of us have lived, sometimes more than once.

Urban Angel - I have never been to New York. This song makes me want to visit a place described by Natalie as a place of love, protection and perseverance.

No One Else - Do you remember how it feels at the beginning of falling in love? You simply want to pull a giant window shade down on the rest of the world and be with each other? Natalie puts those feelings into melodic words.

Colorblind - Wow! This song is haunting and fun at the same time. I love the lyrics, my favorite being "Taffy stuck and tongue tied".

Thanks to Natalie Walker, I have another great CD to add to my "listen to while writing" category.

"It's just you and me
and no one else..."

More sultry than Norah Jones and with touches of ecstasy (like Beth Orton and Sarah McLachlan) in her vocal appeal, Natalie Walker doesn't just sing her songs, she breathes beauty into her music with an unparalleled charm.

Soft and dreamy, this is an escape into solitary contemplation, memories and sultry moods. Chill dreams throughout keep the music within a relaxing nighttime mood with the appeal of falling helplessly in love.

"Waking Dreams" is a very intimate beautiful and heavenly song that is reminiscent of dreamy safety or a fantasy of a magical life. The layering of vocal tracks makes this dreamy and ecstatic.

The atmospherics in "Circles" is gorgeous and emotionally fulfilling. The ecstasy in her voice really appears in this track.

Quicksand has heavier beats, but the lyrics are still sweet and naïve. "Convincing me that this was really lo-o-o-o-ve." The way her voice reverberates in "love" is cute. She tells a story about believing and then being disappointed. We love her for her innocence and wisdom. "All you do is take" on "Right Here" is blended in with especially high piano notes that emphasize the pain and make the song very pointed. Stunning.

"Red" has a more classical feel at the start, but the music melts like a marshmallow over a flame. By this time you are in such a dreamy haze you can't see straight. "Colorblind" is much more perky and wakes you from your trance. "Not the End" dips you back into the "Right Here" mood. The last three songs sort of slip into the night.

The first time I heard Natalie Walker's voice I had to listen to this entire album. I didn't take the time to get my headphones and can I say on a second listen, this is so beautiful with elements that appear magical on headphones.

"You are far too much beauty
for this world."

~The Rebecca Review

This album is inventive. Unique. Sexy and Elegant. At times haunting. But most of all, beautiful. Her voice is soft and delicate, with a surprising range. My friends who've heard the album agree--the sound of this album is what really lends to its cohesive, perfect feel--these songs fill a lot of space with ease. It's definitely down-tempo, on the chill side; works best at night or at relaxing times.

Most comparable to Kate Havnevik, but slower and deeper. Emotionally Honest. Would probably be classified as electronic, with various samplings used in dense but sweeping orchestrations, while some songs are as simple as her voice and a guitar or a piano. Also provides a pretty good cover of "Colorblind", in a slightly higher octave, and a tiny bit faster; it's interesting to hear a woman's voice if you love the CC version.

If I had to explain why I used the word "perfect" a second ago, I'd have to say it's in Natalie's hooks. In the choruses above all else, she uses her voice to create flowing, gentle phrases that transform these songs into ethereal realms. One listen to "you are my / weak in the knees," the hook in "Rest Easy," and the emotion-laden track-with-a-message (and my personal favorite) "Circles" will make you a believer in this sleeper talent.

Rebecca's review below describes the album, in it's entirety, perfectly. So I'll just say that the song Quicksand litterally helped heal me from a horrible break up with my ex fiance. I felt like the song was written just for me and it was so motivational. A truely magical song. I dont know what I would have done without it. Circles is another moving song. #3 is great for intimate moments (think sensual, over sexual) And her redo of "colorblind" compares to The Sundays cover of the rolling stones "wild horses". Just as Good! I love the origional version of "colorblind" by the counting crows. I thought it would be a blasphemy to remake it, but she does it very well and in a style all her own! You think you're heart is broken beyond compare, that no one could understand, that things wont get better...Then an artist like Natalie comes along and alters your mind completely. AMAZING.


BY THE WAY: Thievory Corporation has a remix of Quicksand (not on the album) which is MUCH MUCH better. You must hear it, it Rocks.

"It's just you and me
and no one else..."

More sultry than Norah Jones and with touches of ecstasy (like Beth Orton and Sarah McLachlan) in her vocal appeal, Natalie Walker doesn't just sing her songs, she breathes beauty into her music with an unparalleled charm.

Soft and dreamy, this is an escape into solitary contemplation, memories and sultry moods. Chill dreams throughout keep the music within a relaxing nighttime mood with the appeal of falling helplessly in love.

"Waking Dreams" is a very intimate beautiful and heavenly song that is reminiscent of dreamy safety or a fantasy of a magical life. The layering of vocal tracks makes this dreamy and ecstatic.

The atmospherics in "Circles" is gorgeous and emotionally fulfilling. The ecstasy in her voice really appears in this track.

Quicksand has heavier beats, but the lyrics are still sweet and naïve. "Convincing me that this was really lo-o-o-o-ve." The way her voice reverberates in "love" is cute. She tells a story about believing and then being disappointed. We love her for her innocence and wisdom. "All you do is take" on "Right Here" is blended in with especially high piano notes that emphasize the pain and make the song very pointed. Stunning.

"Red" has a more classical feel at the start, but the music melts like a marshmallow over a flame. By this time you are in such a dreamy haze you can't see straight. "Colorblind" is much more perky and wakes you from your trance. "Not the End" dips you back into the "Right Here" mood. The last three songs sort of slip into the night.

The first time I heard Natalie Walker's voice I had to listen to this entire album. I didn't take the time to get my headphones and can I say on a second listen, this is so beautiful with elements that appear magical on headphones.

"You are far too much beauty
for this world."

~The Rebecca Review

This CD is simply amazing. I have not ever heard any female vocalist that better blended interesting lyrics, catchy and not over-produced track backings, and amazing vocals. Natalie has accomplished all of these and more in this CD. The most prominent feature of the CD, however, is easily Natalie's voice, which often comes through as if she were casually whispering to the listener in clear, melodic tones in the back of a club. There is no adequate comparison among other artists to her performance on this CD that I am aware of.

This CD was the first time I encountered Natalie Walker. Her voice is unique and her vocal range is broad. Every track of this CD is a pleasure to listen to. Crush's strings and drum-backed track is excellent - Natalie's voice almost seems to float over the music, coming through beautifully. The seductive No One Else is easily addictive. The softer Waking Dream invokes a melodic wind-up music box vibe.

For me, however, the true strength of this CD is when Natalie lends her voice to darker tracks. The sadder, more morose, reflective songs - Circles, Red, Colorblind, Not the End, Sanckens Doll - are the most impressive tracks. They are, so far as I have heard, unique to this CD among Natalie's works (you will find some on Daughter Darling as well, though her performance on Urban Angel and the overall production quality on Urban Angel are much stronger). These tracks are better than anything in the genre I have heard - the closest comparisons are Evanescence's Imaginary (though it is much more metal than Urban Angels), Hello, Your Star, and Lithium.

In short, this is a remarkable CD. How there are not more 5 star reviews I am simply at a loss to explain. I can only hope that Natalie will make more CDs like this in the future, as this is a clear and away favorite of hers for me - there really is no comparison, she is in a league of her own on Urban Angel.

Natalie Walker's voice is an emotional journey, she makes you feel every emotion. She describes crushes of love like nobody's business and I gush everytime I hear Quicksand. She should be on top of the charts! I know all of these young up and coming songtresses are marking the VH1 charts but where are the people with a truly listening ear?!? Natalie Walker is like Sarah McLachlan with a twist of Emiliana Torrini; who also happens to be an overlooked talent to the masses. The cover is beautiful and she is an urban angel with a beautiful moving voice.