Reviewing song by song. Fast. With no further consideration (therefore, likely to contain some mistakes and to be modified in a nearby future):
- "Damn Love Song" begins well, interesting, with an ethereal melody, somehow Eastern, and with a clear inclination towards the firstP.J. Harvey. Of course that the voice here is softer, smoother, more melodical and, thus, less striking.
- "You can't keep me" worries me: this is dangerously moving into mainstream pop. Oh my, trumpets appear, the voice nears boredom. Help!
- "Red Banks" has a calmed percussion, soft guitar strokes, mellow voice. It begins well, reminding me of Russian Red. But, with the introduction of drums and bass (lest we forget that's her instrument), following classic patterns, everything begins to decay.
- "A great divide" continues with the vocal torture: where have I heard this voice before? Maybe it sounds like Emily Haynes? Could be. This song is the worst so far. Saxophone solos ala Kenny G... Danger.
- "Often happens" "Often happens when it's getting dark My heart starts telling me little lies" sings Amy... cheesy. And even cheesier the male-female duo. Things are getting ugly.
- "Lucky Boy" highlights the voice. A voice close to Americana until, once again, the wind section adds a badly-shot-low-budget-80s-film feeling. The shadow of Cindy Lauper is growing larger.
- "Tricky Heart" contains maybe too many choirs for just one song. It begins sad, with scarce instrumentation, helping to set the mood. Little by little, it grows and it seems about to commit the same mistakes as the previous songs, but it stops right at the edge and that makes it a little more interesting (mainly thanks to the violins). Interesting, not good. But this one, along with the first one, are the best songs in the album.
- "Stranger Me" contains more classic patterns. Already heard rhythms. Nothing new. Nothing bad, neither. An alright little song that we can listen as background sound. Maybe that's why it gives its name to the album.
- "Candle Mambo" scares me. Mambo? Really? Cuban sounds through Americana style? Oh my! (Oh, I just realized who she reminds me of! To the girl with the travelling piano: Vanessa Carlton. That's really bad!) Luckily, there's not much of Mambo on this song. At the beginning, she threatens us with a little bit of Mambo, but she hasn't left her own style.
- "Cry my eyes out" begins with toy instruments like Pascal Comelade and the voice reminds of Kosheen (poor Amy, she reminds me of a lot of singers, but few good ones).
- "Let yourself go (come on)" has a classic Americana beginning lining towards the most ancient country, so much that we kind of expect to see Bonnie Tyler popping out.
All in all, 45 minutes of boredom.
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