Thursday, April 3, 2014

Alice Smith

I'm sitting here staring at the blank page wondering what I could possibly say about Alice Smith that would be an adequate introduction. I have her album She playing through, and just finished an epic lip-sync rendition of "Cabaret" (true story). But it still doesn't inspire the right words...I know the solution, and skip ahead to her rockin' finale, "She." And here we are. Let's do this...

Honestly, I don't know too much about R&B. I want to, but sadly I just don't, yet. But even so, I feel like it would be a mistake to assume that Alice Smith's contributions to the genre are simply "average." I refuse to believe that, if such a claim were ever made. I found her single "Cabaret" via Amazon's free music, new and upcoming artist section thingamabob and when I finally gave it chance I wanted to kick myself for taking so long, and proceeded to purchase the rest of the album. It has honestly become one of my go-to albums to play - it's fun and spirited and graceful and powerful, and I just want to be her best friend...or at least her backup singer. Just sayin'... She balances dance-y beats with soulful lyrics, and as with "She" it just turns into this rock mash-up thing that I may or may not have adopted as my anthem. Her voice and range rivals Adele, but the way it's paired with the background music (as it is truly background to her voice), makes me think of Broadway. It's slightly theatrical at times- her voice is so powerful that it could easily fill an auditorium. But she has such control! ...Alice Smith has truly extraordinary talent!


(photo source)

Best Song:
If you haven't figured out now, it's most certainly "She." I understand that her debut album was actually For Lovers, Dreamers and Me, which I've heard parts of, but haven't listened to in its entirety yet, only for lack of time, certainly not lack of interest.

Listen Now:

"Be Easy"

"Cabaret"

Enjoy!

2 comments:

  1. I don't know. Maybe just not my cup of tea. I appreciate her voice, but the style of music just doesn't grab me.

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  2. That's cool, appreciation is the objective! Sometimes the theatrical-ness seems a bit much to me, but I can't help it. It's like a Disney song to me. I can't help but sing-a-long.

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