After goodness knows how many albums (all featuring “The Closest Thing to Crazy”, probably), finally time for a change of direction…
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[5.38]
Kat Stevens: Coming to a West End theatre near you: Julie Andrews stars in Noah Way!, a musical retelling of the Great Flood. With ‘storming’ hits such as “Drip It Up And Start Again”, “Are We, Are We, Are We (At Ararat Yet)” and “How Long Is A Cubit Anyway?”, you’ll be dismantling the seats and building your own ark! NB: Katie Melua will be understudying for Julie until further notice.
[5]
Tom Ewing: If I had to pick a least favourite record of the 00s, “Nine Million Bicycles” would be a strong runner, so I am honestly astonished by how much I like this record. Some of Melua’s older faults carry through — she overacts, for instance: “what if you just let go?” is a chilly enough moment, it doesn’t need that extra kiss-off she gives it. But even so this is strong. It sounds like part of a musical, with that rich melody and a tempo change that shouts for choreography. After a first half that flirts so gorgeously with collapse it’s a shame the song has to end cosily — “know in your heart that you can leave your prison” just makes explicit a ‘life lesson’ which could have gone unspoken.
[8]
Martin Skidmore: This feels like two separate songs glued together. The first part is classy orchestral pop, then it moves into something more dancey, with some use of autotune. There’s plenty of craft in the music (produced by William Orbit) and her smooth singing, but I was bored with her instantly, and bar the surprising dancey section here this doesn’t change that.
[3]
Edward Okulicz: Hilariously overwrought, overproduced and downright ridiculous, this is a number of barely-palatable half-songs stitched together with the seams covered up with expensive wooshes and strings. Makes me long for the days of “Pure Shores“, when this sort of wash was customarily attached to an amazing song, which this certainly isn’t. Of no consequence to the quality of the song is that the video looks like a Black Scorpion gay porn film.
[3]
Pete Baran: Katie’s been hawking this bugger around all of thedaytime TV and chat shows, with its odd goth dance video and reliably duff lyrics. She may no long be Mike Batt’s puppet but it doesn’t stop her singing tat about recycling broken people and floods. All of which brings to mind “Drowned World”-era Madonna, and Nellie Hooper is producing, natch, but its messy speed-up-slow-down structure does nothing for me. All that’s left is Melua’s pretty drab voice, which you can hear the eyeliner in.
[4]
Chuck Eddy: Dear Katie: Thank you for reminding me why I never loved Kate Bush or Tori Amos. Even if (as others might point out) you have nothing at all to do with them. (P.S.: Two of these points are for the minute in the middle that’s less slow.)
[3]
Katherine St Asaph: The top-rated YouTube comment on this is “When did Melua get so good? Bloody hell”. Indeed, what the hell? Blame William Orbit, probably, and his confection of strings and stately pitter-patter. But give some credit to Katie, too, and her fairy-dust vocals that remind me every so often of Lisa Hannigan.
[8]
Mark Sinker: I think I confused Katie M with someone else, or I’d have remembered she was Georgian — it has its own alphabet! I can imagine getting tired of this, but not yet. It’s very controlled and direct (like her voice), and it’s very WANT-THIS bonkers (like the rocking-horse capstan piano-thing in the video).
[9]