Corinne Bailey Rae
The Sea (released January 26, 2010)
A couple of years ago, I remember reading an interview with Mary J. Blige in which she gushed over then-rising star Amy Winehouse. This was back when Amy Winehouse was known as a talented crackhead, and not just simply a crackhead.
Anyway, Mary attributed Amy’s ascent to her use of live instruments, giving her a more emotional, mature sound than the tinny, manufactured beats most of today’s R&B artists wail over.
Of course Mary then goes and releases that annoying, run-of-the mill single from the AT&T commercial that sounds like every other song on the radio right now. It even had a tacked-on rap from your hero Drake.
Thank the Lord for Corinne Bailey Rae.
The Sea, her sophomore effort following her 2006 self-titled debut, comes on the heels of the tragic loss of her husband, who died of a suspected drug overdose. As you can guess, The Sea becomes her outlet to vent.
But all she needs is her guitar and some sparse drums. No synths, no 808s, nobody yelling AYYYYYYE in the chorus. It’s refreshing.
At first glance, the gentle first single, “I’d Do It All Again” sounds like typical relationship drama but look deeper:
So weary, someone to love is bigger than your pride’s worth
Is bigger than the pain you got for it hurts
And out runs all the sadness
It’s terrifying, life, through the darkness
And I’d do it all again
Despite that pain, she’s going to soldier on. That’s grown-folks love right there. And all she needed was her guitar. This track, stripped to the bare essentials, shows her vulnerability.
Her smooth delivery picks up slightly for the infectious “Closer” and “Feels Like The First Time” two of the album’s standouts. But once you hit the second half of the album, the music gets a little less accessible. The peppy “Paper Dolls” sounds oddly out of place, especially among subdued tracks like “The Sea” and “Diving For Hearts.” Don’t get me wrong – while Rae can’t yell and scream like Keyshia Cole (and let’s be glad she doesn’t) her vocals are sometimes too light and airy. So when she drops meaningful jewels on the title track – “the sea…breaks everything, crushes everything/cleans everything, takes everything/from me” it’s easy to tune them out.
That’s what makes The Sea a frustrating album. I’ll happily admit that it’s full of tremendous creativity and substance but by the album’s end there seems to be a lack of energy that hurts the flow of the album. Maybe it’s the heavy subject matter. Or maybe it needs a verse from Drake.
Scratch that – actually, that’s exactly what this album doesn’t need. And I hope more artists follow suit. Instead of singing over flavor-of-the-month beats with a verse from Gucci Mane, just get a guitar, a couple of drums and bare your soul. It worked for Corinne.
Best tracks: “Closer,” “Feels Like The First Time,” “I’d Do It Again”
3.5 stars out of 5
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