DEBUT: Hype queen Clare Maguire is out to impress
AFTER coming fifth in the BBC Sound of 2011 list, Clare Maguire has been backed by TV appearances, celebrity meetings and supporting roles on tour with Hurts and Plan B.
So her debut album ‘Light After Dark’ has a lot of hype riding on it despite the fact that her first single to come off the album, ‘Aint Nobody’, only managed number 78 in the UK singles chart after its October release.
The album kicks off with a 58 second introduction called ‘Are You Ready’, which ultimately consists of her adlibbing sounds without actually saying any words in something more like a cry for attention than a teasing sign of things to come.
Despite this the music kicks in with the catchy ‘The Shield And The Sword’, which immediately reminds you of The Eurythmics and Annie Lennox with that earthy yet soothing vocal and some bright orchestral chords.
A lovely violin backing adds drama to a heartfelt piano and Maguire’s deep vocal that builds and builds to a crescendo as Maguire sings: “You have the shield, I have the sword, I no longer love you, no longer love you.”
‘Last Dance’ then follows, which is her recently released second single, and immediately brings in those Sharleen Spiteri-esque adlibs before her superb vocal range takes the song onwards and upwards.
Inspired and written the day after her hero Michael Jackson’s death and the public reaction that followed, this track has a synth undertone and powerful drumbeat to mark it out as a worthy second release.
After track three however this album begins to waiver in an attempted 80s throwback that has as much synth as it does violins.
Maguire’s website bio speaks of the fact that a lot of the tracks on this album were wrote in a day and the lyricism as a result here leaves a lot to be desired at times.
Take ‘Bullet’ as an example as she sings: “I was told a dead man was heavier than a broken heart, am I dead now, my heart sure feels heavy.” Maguire’s vocal is comparable to many an old powerhouse, Jennifer Rush comes to mind during this track, but the songs just don’t stack up.
In parts ‘Sweet Lie’ again is lovingly reminiscent of that Spiteri emotion as a soft drum beat, stripped back piano and harmonies follow her gently restrained voice before another limp, ordinary chorus, as she sings: “Out of sight out of mind, what a sweet lie.”
A sincere lack of imagination and that fight and rawness that pours from her press interviews is distinctly lacking on tracks like ‘You’re Electric’.
Although it has shiny synth, thickset drums and a pretty harp it is just full of cliché, it’s crying out for direction in places rather than, “You’re electric, I know lightning won’t strike twice in the same place, so lets run away.”
Tracks like ‘Break These Chains’ and title track ‘Light After Dark’ again have that rangy potential but lack a cutting edge chorus or anything to set them apart from the ordinary.
‘Aint Nobody’ is a moody synth-clad bluesy affair that is more Mortal Kombat theme music than catchy synth-pop as the droaning chorus repeats, packing no real punch.
The album is rounded off by a strange sort of plea in the form of ‘This Is Not The End’, which has a deep orchestral backing, prayer-like sound and although sung pleasantly has no other function than to make you question why it is on the album at all.
At the end of the day Maguire has a magnificent voice and range but a lack of imagination and catchy hooks on ‘Light After Dark’ makes her debut somewhat hollow as it seems something to be bought more to marvel at her vocal than at her music itself.
3/10
Also published www.virgin.com
http://www.virgin.com/music/reviews/clare-maguire-light-after-dark
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