Thursday, 5 December 2013

Leona Lewis- Christmas, with Love Album Review


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Album- Christmas, with Love
Artist- Leona Lewis

The biggest act to come out of the X Factor in terms of UK sales, Leona Lewis has already had an amazing musical career. However, it is safe to say that with each successive album that she has released that success has waned and sales have shrunk. Acting as an in-between record before her next proper album, Lewis’ fourth album is a Motown inspired Christmas collection that features seven covers and three original songs. The Christmas album is a tricky record to pull of correctly, whilst many will surely see this record as a means for Lewis to captilise on the Christmas market and simply do better in her career in terms of sales. But could Christmas, with Love actually be the Christmas record that the UK is crying out for, and perhaps more importantly, could her original songs become future Christmas classics?

Track 1- One More Sleep

Opening track lead single One More Sleep is a mid to up tempo affair that finds Lewis evoking that Christmas spirit of wanting your partner with you and longing for you them whilst all these great Christmas times are going on around. The first of the sets original composition, the songs sentiment is a message other Christmas songs have already covered really well, but Lewis does a fine job, giving us a solid and memorable chorus whilst using some nice Christmas references. Emotional weight is given to the track through the richness of Lewis’ voice and the build-up of the vocals so that by the end Lewis can give us some great high notes that makes for an awesome finish. Sound wise the songs production gives a cool Motown feel to the track with some glittery piano melodies, a swaying rhythm and some snazzy drumbeats that makes for a nice upbeat tone to the track that compliments the sad but hopeful and love based essence of the lyrics.

3.5/5 

Track 2- Winter Wonderland

A Christmas classic that has been covered by over 150 artists already, Winter Wonderland is all about evoking the Christmas spirit through some awesome winter imagery. This version is a big brassy number with some great use of horns and a snappy guitar groove, and vocally Lewis brings some diva elements to the song that allows it to be a bit different and vibrant in a new way, but for me this is a bit too much of a copy of the original and isn’t quite exciting or interesting enough to feel like Lewis is totally invested in the idea of Christmas.

2/5

Track 3- White Christmas

Lewis brings a Motown, 60’s girl group feel to the Christmas classic made famous by Bing Crosby. The songs finds Lewis wishing for a Christmas filled with snow and joy, and the smooth RnB flecked tone of her voice brings a natural warmth and pizzazz to the song that is fun to listen to. The snappy production with the heavy drumbeats and grand sound gives a funkier element to the song that nicely builds in power and makes this version feel more like a natural extention of who Lewis is an artist rather than just another cover version, and whilst some people may not like just quite how different this version is to the Bing Crosby version, it makes for a much more interesting listen, and if she had just stuck to the typical sound then people (myself included) would have probably just said it was a boring safe rendition.

3.5/5

Track 4- Your Hallelujah

The first ballad of the record and the second original song finds the singer seemingly taking some inspiration from religion whilst also bringing a touching romanticism to the holiday period. The song lyrically focuses on this person coming home and being fully loved and safe, with the message being very powerful and lyrically structured in a great and poetic way. Lewis’ vocal performance is smooth and within this musical setting feels very natural, whilst the addition of a gospel choir adds extra depth to the track that makes it feel very sincere. Keeping the production impactful but simple is a great sound, with the song featuring beautiful piano instrumentation and string arrangements that will have you hooked and feeling a certain type of a Christmas emotion by the final note.

3.5/5

Track 5- Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)

Lewis’ rendition of the classic song made famous by Darlene Love is another song that is more faithful and in tune with the original song. However in this instance she could have really ruined the song doing anything else, and with her big diva vocals the essence of the song is very naturally suitable. The songs lyrical sentiment is encapsulated in the title and is still powerful today, with the power of Lewis’ voice really adding dramatic impacts to the songs message. The brassy, vibrant and forceful sound of the record with the gorgeous mix of drums and horns is joyful and fun to listen to and really captures a part of the Christmas spirit to make this a strong song for the album.

3.5/5

Track 6- Mr Right

Mr Right is another Motown flavoured original track with a more vibrant, snappy production complete with some almost military like drumbeats and joyful, typical Christmas bell ringing. The song finds Lewis sitting comfortably vocally in a smooth RnB groove where her voice conveys the songs sentiment wonderfully. Here we find Lewis singing of her loneliness this Christmas and wishing for that Mr Right to come together, with the chorus being an equally snappy, catchy piece that will resonate with some of the sadly lonely hearted, wishful thinking people this Christmas. It is a nice slice of up tempo Motown pop which I think would have been a better single choice than One More Sleep.

3.5/5

Track 7- O Holy Night

With her rendition of the classic Christmas carol O Holy Night, Lewis allows her rich tones to naturally bring out the faith based essence of Christmas. The song is nicely backed by soft guitar instrumentation and a beautiful string arrangement, whilst vocally the build in intensity is so strong to listen to with the gospel essence of the track with the use of a choir making the song that much more impactful. The only issue I have with this song is that it is very faithful and in this sense just6 feels like something that Lewis could have produced very easily, and so it lacks that Christmas spark that would make it a truly amazing rendition.

3/5

Track 8- I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday

Wizzard’s I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday is probably a song that many wouldn’t have expected Lewis to cover. But she actually does a great job, exuding the same joy and passion that the original had and keeping the sound in line with the original song, whilst allowing her strong vocals and powerful tone to give the song a bit of a diva makeover. The stomping drum rhythms and brass band sounds of the production are a perfect sound that makes you just want to jump for joy that it is Christmas, and the vocals are strong enough to mark it out as different and more dramatic than the original version of the track.

3.5/5

Track 9- Ave Maria

Ave Maria is probably the least obvious Christmas song on the record and the one song people might not necessarily find appealing. But really Lewis’ rendition of the song is amazing, as she shows off her classical roots and gives a rich, powerful vocal that a singer like Katherine Jenkins would probably be really jealous off. It throws this musical curveball within the record that reminds us that there is so much more to Lewis than you would expect, whilst the song is also further made amazing by the fact that she completely sings in Latin. The piano and strings of the production add as a simple base that allows the singers voice to shine, and this song just perhaps signals that one day we could have an awesome classical song from the singer.

3.5/5

Track 10- Silent Night

The final track for the record is a rendition of another classic Christmas carol, Silent Night. The song finds the singing ending the record on a soft but powerful note in which she reminds us of the true meaning of Christmas and gives a beautiful vocal performance that is made stronger by the layering of her vocals. The soft, almost acapella but not quite essence of the songs production just adds to the renditions power on the listener, and this is just a strong song to finish things up with.

3.5/5

Final Review

This is a nicely assembled Christmas album that really showcases Leona’s voice well and gives us Christmas songs that feel in tune with whom Lewis is as an artist and which brings a fresh, fun and interesting take on some Christmas classics. Keeping the set at a short 10 track length was a good move, whilst the few original compositions nicely capture the Christmas spirit and could become classics in their own right. There are a couple songs that bring down the quality of the record and the production value for me could be more fine-tuned, but Lewis still brings a glamour and vibrancy to Christmas music that has been missing a bit, and the record works nicely in preparation for her next proper album.

7/10

Best Track- Mr Right

Worst Track- Winter Wonderland

No comments:

Post a Comment