Pixie Lott has gotten a bit lost in the crowd hasn’t she?
There are so many female solo artists right now and Pixie has never really lived up to the success of her first album, 2009’s ‘Turn It Up’.
Since then she’s flirted around with electro-pop and a more organic sound in the hopes of finding a sound that sticks.
Her third album, helpfully self-titled, attempts to ride the soul wave that Ariana Grande and Meghan Trainor have found success with, but it just isn’t working for us.
To begin with, it’s an ominous sign that neither of the preceding singles capture the sound of the rest of the album.
First single ‘Nasty’ is the best thing on here. Catchy, stylish and distinctive, unfortunately it’s Pixie herself that lets the team down by not acing it on the vocals.
New single ‘Lay Me Down’ plays with soul before bailing into a more safe pop direction.
Elsewhere, the other ten songs are hit and miss. ‘Champion’ manages to meld soul, disco and pure pop into one confused 1960s inspired number. ‘Raise Up’ is a piano ballad that sounds like a reality show winner’s single with an annoying ‘up, up, up, up’ hook. Meanwhile, ‘Ain’t Got You’ is almost a soulful sequel to ‘Cry Me Out’ and ‘Heart Cry’ sounds like Bruno Mars should have recorded it.
‘Cry And Smile’ is probably the best indicator of how the album should have turned out. It’s a bit more down tempo, it’s not trying too hard and it’s beautifully orchestrated.
We know that this is probably our harshest review yet, but, to be honest, this album would sound ten times better if it was Emeli Sandé on vocals.
Don’t fret though, chances are she’ll be trying out another new sound for the next album anyway.
Download : Nasty, Cry And Smile.
auspOp says
We’d much prefer a Tootsie Roll!?
The auspOp team
The Queen of Coach says
You forgot the eye roll…