Aly Cook
Album: Brand New Day
Label: Futures Entertainment
Tracks: 8
Website: www.alycook.com

Hailing from New Zealand, Aly Cook introduces herself to us with her debut album Brand New Day; a collection of easy listening songs with influences ranging from country to rock and roll to pop to blues. The album is driven by Cook's faultless alto voice and her strong sense of melody, complementing the nicely written and structured songs.

The album kicks off with a mid-tempo track titled The River which, although is not the most gripping of introductions, does offer a gentle and modest opening and is in parts reminiscent of The Travelling Wilburys. Slightly more folky roots are detectable in Grow, a track that offers a plethora of instruments including mandolin and banjo. The first single to be taken from Brand New Day is a laid-back and catchy number called Spend It; not only a great pop/blues/country song but also an excellent example of the versatility of Cook's voice.

While there are many different genres of music detectable in the album, Brand New Day is essentially a country - pop hybrid. However, what is commendable to Cook (and undoubtedly her producers) is her ability to showcase the technicality and quality of her voice without over-exaggerating melodies; a trap into which many other country singers fall. This results in an album that holds appeal to more than just fans of country music. Also worthy of note throughout the record is the quality of the musicianship; all tracks feature good, solid acoustic playing from Cook herself and many others feature fantastic yet modest lap steel guitar parts, particularly The River and Spend It.

The main criticism of Brand New Day is that the production, in parts, lets it down; some of the drum tracks sound almost as if they are coming from a machine as opposed to a musician and an instrument. Also, the title track of the album doesn't quite achieve what it sounds like was intended, but instead sounds a little like a karaoke backing track, with Cook saving it with her vocal performance. That said, the rest of the tracks are very good; they offer pleasant and easy listening melodies, performed by a superb singer and showcase many aspects of many different genres of music making Brand New Day a very good crossover album.

Richard Blenkinsop