Reviews

Artist:Amy Wadge
Album:No Sudden Moves
Label:Manhaton
Tracks: 13
Rating: ****
Contact:   www.amywadge.com

No Sudden Moves is Amy Wadge's third album, her second full length cut on Manhaton Records. It sees the West Country born adopted daughter of Wales going from strength to strength building on her previous efforts. She's now married to a Welshman and speaks the language, her most recent single, "USA? We'll Wait And See" has been released in both English and Welsh.
As well as penning her own material, Amy has started co-writing with other artists, including Cliff Difford and Marty Pellow. It's had a couple of highly beneficial effects. Firstly any song written with someone else will automatically have a different dynamic. Secondly, it can help teach you new ideas and techniques to apply to your own writing and help you look at yourself in a different way.
Amy seems to have grown into her role as singer/songwriter there's a far more relaxed feeling to "No Sudden Moves" that puts the title into perspective. It's an album of people, events and emotions.
One of the best examples of this is "Fairweather Friend". Never there when you're looking for support. Drop you in favour of the next  new, more exciting social opportunity, but are straight on the phone to you the moment it alls go wrong.
No Sudden Moves has a wider term of reference than the previous two cuts, it's something that seems to stem out of Amy's progression as a writer. You feel less of a voyeur with this album, it seems less personal to Amy and more of the world around Amy. It's like she's realised that you don't have to write about yourself to make something yours.
Part of the relaxed feel seems to come from a very live feel. Amy has a fantastic ability to interact with an audience and she has brought that into the recording.
No Sudden Moves (The fifth track on the album named after it) is an emotionally charged acoustic ballad with pop overtones that should help Amy reach out to a wider audience. Amy Wadge continues to impress. She's got a truly distinctive voice and style which marks the album as something distinct and very welcome.