Tim: Lea (off Glee, and Cannonball) has a style, and it works. It is demonstrated by this, and also by all but two of the tracks on her new album.
Tom: Yep, that’s a rejected Adele single right there.
Tim: She has a strong voice, and she knows that. She doesn’t want any big instrumentation to take attention away from it, so beyond a piano line, occasional drumbeats and the odd string section, it’s all her, right up until the closing chorus when we’re all in for the big finish. And my word, does that work.
Tom: It does, and you’re absolutely right about her voice — and she’ll be able to do it live, too — but it’s impossible not to compare this against other Big Vocal Tracks, and I can’t help feeling that the producers should have gone for a big chorus on the first verse. The energy it has just slips away.
Tim: Perhaps, but that almost makes it better when it does come back at the end. And so while it does make for a same-y album, if same-y is this strength of ballads, I really don’t care.