Album- Killer Love
Artist- Nicole
Scherzinger
The lead singer of the former girl group The Pussycat Dolls
was always seen as the centre of the group and a bit of an attention stealer.
Indeed some questioned is they were a group. But in 2011 Scherzinger released
her full debut, after a wait of many years and a shelving of the original
product. But was it enough for solo success?
Track 1- Poison
The lead single off the album is a thumping club banger that
features electro grooves and a feisty vocal from Scherzinger. The chorus is a
simple line repetition that easily gets stuck in your head. But lyrically the
track feels a little bit bland, and the production is cool but at the same time
is a little frenzied. This gives a great energy to the track, but also is a
little bit annoying. So whilst an ok track, probably not the best to choose as
a lead single.
2.5/5
Track 2- Killer Love
The title track of the album keeps in the same club banging
vein of the previous track, but this song is more cohesive and just much
better, so we find the great producer RedOne back on form. Lyrically the song
is intriguing, and the downplayed vocals of the pre chorus contrast greatly
with the power and aggression on the chorus. The final verse is also very
simply and nice, whilst the final verse give us the full force of Scherzinger’s
vocals and features some great production choices, This should have been a
single instead of poison.
3.5/5
Track 3- Don’t Hold
Your Breath
This is a slice of slick, stylish pop at its best. The slow
building introduction makes for a great impact of the booming chorus in which
Scherzinger declares “Don’t Hold Your Breath”. And it is an album for the
heartbroken of the world in that the delicate vocals of the chorus combined
with the lyrical vulnerability give a true sense of hurt, whilst the pounding
chorus with its aggressive back beat and powerful vocal and lyrical exclamation
gives an empowering message that Scherzinger can move on, so can you. It is
easy to see why this was her first solo UK number one.
5/5
Track 4- Right There
In contrast to the heartfelt nature of Don’t Hold Your
Breath, this Ester Dean co penned track is very lyrically suggestive and
presents a naughty side to Scherzinger’s personality. The song features breezy production that gives
a slight RnB flavour to the track, and Scherzinger’s breezy vocals give an
exotic flavouring to the track with the slight Hawaiian accent, showing us her
roots. The audience calling final verse is also a good twist in the song. The
probably is that this song feels very safe in the day and age where we have
songs like Rihanna’s Rude Boy, so some might just not really enjoy this song.
3.5/5
Track 5- You Will Be
Loved
The positives of this track are that it offers a nice change
of pace within the record as a whole, it features Scherzinger being vocally on
point and giving a nice softness to the track, and its got a little bit of good
production. However, the negatives are that the back beat feels a little bit
harsh for this type of track, the chorus can get annoying through over
repetition, and the yodelling intro is just plain weird. So it’s one of those
songs you might like or might just want to skip.
2.5/5
Track 6- Wet
This club banging track is great. It brings the record back
to form with simple lyrical content that features a lush, sexual pop hook. And
the booming production is grand, complimenting Scherzinger’s vocals well as she
subtly gives us all her sensuousness in the verses and the bombasts us with
force in the chorus.
4/5
Track 7- Say Yes
This aggressive beat filled track could have been a sombre
down tempo track but here is given a great dance fuelled production that gives
a nice twist to the song. It’s a little bit annoying with the repetition of the
title and doesn’t feel as solidly produced as some of the other songs on this
record, but nevertheless it is an interesting pop song with a good vocal
performance.
3/5
Track 8- Club Banger
Nation
The la la la choral vocal introduction on this track, along
with the exclamation of “Club Banger Nation can you feel it” and “this is for
my Club Banger Nation” marks this as the most
dancey and club ready track on the album. But whilst the production is a
cool mix of electro guitar and powerful drumbeats, vocally the track is a bit
disjointed, with the verses being nice and breezy but the chorus being weird as
the vocals are layered and the accent Scherzinger employs is a bit unnecessary.
Its another enjoy it or don’t song unfortunately.
2.5/5
Track 9- Power’s Out
(featuring Sting)
After the very dancey nature of the first half of the album
we enter into the ballad territory with this track. But this is a great track
to enter territory with. The vocal pairing of the soft vocals of Scherzinger
and Sting is genius, and whilst lyrically it is heavily clichéd, it is still a
sweet sentiment overall that many will identify with. The production is also
simple, perhaps a little overpowering in the chorus but still elevating the
message of the track. The vocal capabilities of the two artists is also really
shown in the latter half of the track, and the simple piano ending is a nice
touch.
4/5
Track 10- Desperate
This slightly mid tempo ballady song is kind of good but
kind of dull at the same time. Vocally Scherzinger does indeed same vulnerable
and desperate, and she unleashes the power that hides within her voice well
within the chorus, without being overpowering. But lyrically it is just a
little bit dull and production wise it feels as if the producer isn’t even
trying. So very much the weakest track on this record.
2/5
Track 11- Everybody
The electro guitar production of this track is great and
much better than the last track, with the thumping drum beat giving a great
sense of force to the track. The simple chorus line gives universality to the
track, and the delicacy of Scherzinger’s voice really comes through in this
track.
3.5/5
Track 12- Heartbeat (Rudi
Wells Open Heart Remix) (Enrique Iglesias featuring Nicole Scherzinger)
This track originally featured on Iglesias’ first bilingual
album “Euphoria”. Whilst this remixed version still holds the same loving
sentimentality of the original and is still quite down tempo, it features a
much harder back beat that brings the song into dance floor territory. It’s an
alright remix but not that fresh, and in this sense just feels like it’s a tag
on on the album just to flesh it out. Which is sad.
3/5
Track 13- Casualty
This powerful ballad is a great mix of forceful production
and vocal melodrama. Scherzinger gives her most monstrous vocal on the record,
and the lyrics are a little bit blaze but are helped by a booming production
value that gives the ballad a kick and makes it a little bit more memorable.
3.5/5
Track 14- AmenJena
This final ballad is a bit of a stereotypical end but is
great in that it showcases a truly vulnerable side to Scherzinger, with the
production being kept to the minimum of piano instrumentation and letting
Scherzinger’s voice doing the talking. It is beautifully composed lyrically and
production wise, and the only issue is that the song is dragged out a bit too
long.
3.5/5
Final Review
This is a good debut in that it is vocally great and
features some very nice songs. There are issues though in that in some places
it feels as if she is just singing the songs rather than investing herself in
the music, and the album suffers because of the dance first half then ballady
second half format. An assure and very good debut that shows that Scherzinger
will make it as a solo artist, but with points to improve on for her second
album.
6.5/10
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