Reviews

Artist: Rachel Taylor-Beales
Album: Brilliant Blue
Label: Self Released
Tracks: 11
Rating: ****
Contact: info@racheltaylor-beales.com

Brilliant Blue is a well crafted, well written album, that features some great singing, excellent musicianship, fine production and two flaws.

The first flaw is down to the production and reinforced by the lazyness of the average listener. On first play through, this sounds too close to Tori Amos, for the majority of tracks and Kate Bush for a couple of the rest. It's not until you play it through the second and successive times that you really find that there is actually a lot of Rachel in there. That said if there were two artists that I'd like to be mistaken for, Kate Bush and Tori Amos would rank up there with the best of them.

The more you listen to it, the more Rachel comes through. It happens quicker on some tracks than others 10,000 miles, for example is almost instananeous. Rachel Taylor-Beales obviously feels for her songs and delivers then as though they are the most precious thing to her at that moment.

Some of the songs are delivered very much in the singer/songwriter  mode whilst others have a full band instrumentation, it provides a nice variety without reducing the passion. It also allows more jazz and rock influences to merge with the underlying folk tones. You can also hear an Australian thing happening there. The way certain phrases are used have got that downunder feel.

Brilliant Blue feels like an album about a journey, both physical and emotional. This is brought about by superbly penned lyrics that encoporate some quite elequent phrasing into the songs. The songs themselves vary in texture and tone. Some are very quiet and demand concentration to listen to and this sort of brings me to the second flaw.

Whilst I would say there's not a weak track on the album, the opening track is in the wrong place. It is too delicate to open the album. You miss the storm brewing effect, because your ears aren't ready for it. It's place is deeper in the album. I can't understand why Rachel didn't kick off with the title track as it's a great introduction to her album and at just 1 minute forty six leaves you wanting more.

Brilliant Blue is an album that it's easy to recommend, because it's a very stylish album with much going for it. Oh yes, one other thing leave it going after track 10 because track 11 is hidden away behind it.