She’s been hailed in some quarters as the new Norah Jones and the heir to Eva Cassidy’s throne. With sales of her debut going through the roof, things are looking bright indeed for the Russian-born, Belfast-bred daughter of a heart surgeon. But despite the comparisons, 19-year-old Melua sounds nothing like either singer. True, she covers a couple of blues numbers and torch ballads here but it can’t be denied that Katie Melua’s voice sounds more like it was born in a stage musical than a smoky jazz club.
There’s just way too much about the current single, ‘Closest Thing To Crazy’ that reminds the listener of something from Blood Brothers or even the awful Annie. The cloying melody apart, the lyrics (written by former Womble Mike Batt) are dreadful: “Feeling twenty-two, acting seventeen is the nearest thing to crazy I have ever known.”
Batt, who apparently discovered Melua at a performing arts school in London, pens the bulk of the songs here, but sadly most of them are way too derivative to stand up to the classics they try to emulate, while the MOR arrangements are radio-friendly in the extreme. ‘My Aphrodisiac Is You’ (clearly modelled on ‘I Get A Kick Out of You’) is a case in point: “Some people like to read the Khama Sutra first/But I don’t need it, if I should read it I’d be worse”
Of her own originals ‘Belfast (Penguins and Cats)’ is refreshingly surrealistic and her version of Randy Newman’s ‘I Think It’s Going To Rain Today’ fares a lot better despite her breathless delivery and the over-bearing string arrangements, while she tackles John Mayall’s blues vamp ‘Crawling Up A Hill’ with a more soulful delivery.
Fact fiends will be interested to know that Chris Spedding of ‘Motorbiking’ fame plays guitar here (not that you’d notice) while one time Paul McCartney and Clapton drummer Henry Spinetti also features.
She may be well on her way to stardom but despite repeated listening this left me stone cold.