FORTUNE COOKIES
Alana Davis
(Warner)
RATING: three and a half
Thank God she’s still around. While her debut album Blame It on Me enjoyed a good measure of success, Alana’s music wasn’t exactly mainstream material. It was great listening, but the five years of silence since then have only heightened my fears that her record label had written off Alana Davis as unsaleable.
So it was with great relief that I picked up Fortune Cookies, Alana’s much-awaited follow-up. Fortune Cookies wastes no time in reminding listeners of Alana’s singular charms that have been missed this half-decade of her absence. The album opens strong, with “Save the Day,” a sexy, radio-friendly track that uses the best tool at Alana’s disposal: her voice. Earthy, smoky, and sensuous, her vocals alone would distinguish her music from all the rest. But then her chosen genre—a warm blend of blues and folk, with a hint of R&B and jazz—is also unique, and the eleven songs in this collection move easily between these influences.
From the laid-back “I Want You” to the bouncy remake of the 70s classic “How Many of Us Have Them (Friends)” to the touching “God of Love,” Alana attempts more in this album. Alana’s maturation is graceful, and she seems to have skipped the awkward sophomore phase altogether, instead confidently stepping up and on.
There are a few new territories that Alana explores on this album. “Bye Bye” is 70s disco funk, complete with waah-waah guitars and a cheesy bass line; yes, it sounds like it could’ve been lifted off a soundtrack for a blaxploitation flick, but it’s actually pretty catchy, a playful break in the middle of the album. Then there’s “Got This Far,” which experiments with reggae influences. Stylistically, Alana is beginning to sound like a younger, more fun version of Joan Osborne, another white soul singer capable of an astonishingly wide range both as a singer and as a songwriter.
As sophomore albums go, Fortune Cookies is both satisfying and promising. In itself, it’s already a mature follow-up from a precocious artist whose debut Time magazine put on its list of five best releases of its year. But it’s also promising, showing the many new directions in which she could still grow. If creative juice is anything to go by, then it’s likely that Alana Davis is bound to be around for a long time. I shouldn’t have worried. —Kristine Fonacier
(Warner)
RATING: three and a half
Thank God she’s still around. While her debut album Blame It on Me enjoyed a good measure of success, Alana’s music wasn’t exactly mainstream material. It was great listening, but the five years of silence since then have only heightened my fears that her record label had written off Alana Davis as unsaleable.
So it was with great relief that I picked up Fortune Cookies, Alana’s much-awaited follow-up. Fortune Cookies wastes no time in reminding listeners of Alana’s singular charms that have been missed this half-decade of her absence. The album opens strong, with “Save the Day,” a sexy, radio-friendly track that uses the best tool at Alana’s disposal: her voice. Earthy, smoky, and sensuous, her vocals alone would distinguish her music from all the rest. But then her chosen genre—a warm blend of blues and folk, with a hint of R&B and jazz—is also unique, and the eleven songs in this collection move easily between these influences.
From the laid-back “I Want You” to the bouncy remake of the 70s classic “How Many of Us Have Them (Friends)” to the touching “God of Love,” Alana attempts more in this album. Alana’s maturation is graceful, and she seems to have skipped the awkward sophomore phase altogether, instead confidently stepping up and on.
There are a few new territories that Alana explores on this album. “Bye Bye” is 70s disco funk, complete with waah-waah guitars and a cheesy bass line; yes, it sounds like it could’ve been lifted off a soundtrack for a blaxploitation flick, but it’s actually pretty catchy, a playful break in the middle of the album. Then there’s “Got This Far,” which experiments with reggae influences. Stylistically, Alana is beginning to sound like a younger, more fun version of Joan Osborne, another white soul singer capable of an astonishingly wide range both as a singer and as a songwriter.
As sophomore albums go, Fortune Cookies is both satisfying and promising. In itself, it’s already a mature follow-up from a precocious artist whose debut Time magazine put on its list of five best releases of its year. But it’s also promising, showing the many new directions in which she could still grow. If creative juice is anything to go by, then it’s likely that Alana Davis is bound to be around for a long time. I shouldn’t have worried. —Kristine Fonacier
posted by Kristine F. | Thursday, August 01, 2002
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home