Album- Freedom
Artist- Rebecca
Ferguson
Rebecca Ferguson is one of those rare X Factor acts who has
managed to achieve both critical and commercial success, with her debut album
Heaven being critically lauded and being certified double platinum with the UK.
As such, her sophomore effort was always going to be a tough record to
assemble. But with the singer pooling from the turmoil that has characterised
her time between albums and showing a fiercer attitude with the dramatic,
crimson red album cover, Freedom seems to be a record where Ferguson is
definitely stronger and wiser, and so the simple question is whether this new
attitude means she can better herself and bring us another amazing album.
Track 1- I Hope
Lead single and opening track I Hope keeps within the same
soulful state as Ferguson’s previous record, but with an intense drum loop and
simmering energy, there is also a forceful and slightly darker essence to the
track that makes it stand out more from her previous material. Here we find
Ferguson in a state of coming to terms with life as she lyrically addresses the
fact that she used to hate this person or even persons but with time she has
come to realise that she has to let go of the past and now just wishes them
well. The songs composition is a bit fragmented and doesn’t quite hit you on
first listen, but after a few replays of the repetitive hook of ‘I hope’ gets
easily stuck in your head. Vocally the singers soulful and rich tones blend
beautifully with the message of the track, with her delivery of the vocals
making the song that much more believable and nicely dramatic. Producer Jarrad
Rogers does a great job with the songs production, with the almost tribal like
drums and lush piano melodies intertwining for a sombre, reflective and
powerful sound that makes the tracks
emotion all the more palpable for the listener.
4/5
Track 2- Fake Smile
Ferguson teams up with previous collaborator Francis White
once again for a snappy, soulful track that finds the singer telling you to put
on your fake smile and use some other tricks to show that you are fine and are
better without this person, because really the world is full of a lot of fakery
just like what she wants you to do. The message is strong and although the
lyrics could be a little sharper the chorus is catchy in its simple, defiant
tone. The vocals are stronger here as we get the typical vulnerable Rebecca in
places but she also belts out some notes and delivers the chorus with a bit of
venom in her force that shows we are dealing with a mature and feisty woman,
even if what she says is questionable. White’s stomping drums, soft piano and
great use of horns makes for a slightly smouldering, soulful RnB tune that will
have you maybe snapping your fingers along and just chilling along letting the singer’s
confidence wash over you.
3.5/5
Track 3- Bridges
(featuring John Legend)
The record first ballad is the only song on the album (and
her whole career) where the singer isn’t a co-writer. But that being said, this
still feels like a Rebecca Ferguson song, and colloborators John Legend and
Steve Robson give us a song that doesn’t compromise on the lyrical quality and
which features some lovely, sharp lyrical sentiments. Bridges is very much a
break up song, but it could be applied to relationships of different kinds, and
is all the more powerful because of this . Ferguson and Legend match each other
beautifully vocal, seeming like two artists who were destined to sing together and
giving us a deeply emotional essence to the track that is made all the more
potent by the use of two voices that nicely emphasises how the breakdown of
relationships is very much a two way thing. The lush composition of strings and
piano means that the production perfectly encapsulates the songs sentiment, and
I wouldn’t be too surprised if this turns up as a single in the future.
3.5/5
Track 4- My Best
Produced by rising production stars TMS, My Best is the
first proper dance ready track from the singer. That is not to say she has
suddenly gone all David Guetta on the listener, but with the slight electronic
flourishes on the track, groovy drum beats and nice saxophone bleeps, My Best
is a song where dancing just feels like something you have to naturally do.
Here Ferguson gives us an aspiring number where she sings of how you are at
your best when you just go for things, and like with some of her previous
material she nicely reminds the singer that we all have things like family and
faith to fall back on. Vocally flits from feisty to airy within the song to
great effect, with the backing vocals on the track nicely giving a powerful
tone to the track that almost makes it feel like a gospel tune (with this
feeling being particularly present in the awesome bridge). The song is
definitely something we haven’t heard from Ferguson before, and this would be
an awesome future single to show a different side of Ferguson.
4/5
Track 5- All That
I’ve Got
With a clicky sounding production that is almost a bit
witchy in my opinion, and with stomping bass drums that elevate the songs
fierce nature, All That I’ve Got is a track where we find Ferguson facing her demons
and moving on from bad times where people brought her down, so now she will
give life all that she has got. The dramatic lyricism of the track is catchy
and potent to listen, whilst Fergusons steady build up in the vocals for a
really meaty, powerful chorus really captures the listening. The twitchy
production value of the track with the prominent drum underpinnings adds a
further catchy quality to the song, making this an anthem for those defiant
people moving on in life.
3.5/5
Track 6- Hanging On
Hanging On is like a musical sister to I Hope in that there
is a burning intensity to the track that culminates in a powerful chorus, and
we once again find Ferguson releasing herself of her troubles. However, this
track has more of a lighter, I am rising from the ashes a better person feel,
and Ferguson really conveys the sense that as she doesn’t let her past problems
get her down anymore, life is definitely her oyster. The soft tone of Fergusons
voice works really well in terms of the way the songs builds vocally, making
the freeing spirit of the track very relatble and appealing. The production of
the song is great with lovely horn blasts and a forceful, bubbly drum base that
simply allows the song to fly and soar along in sound just like it does vocally
and lyrically.
4/5
Track 7- My Freedom
My Freedom is an intriguing listen from the outset as the
song features a slinky, more RnB driven production that shows a different side
of Ferguson, and it is not only the tracks production that is intriguing.
Vocally the singer sounds forceful and even a bit angry within this song and
gives us a commanding performance that shows that this is a woman who won’t
take things from other people anymore. The lyrics of the track focusing on the
singer defiantly telling people that she doesn’t care what people do because
her freedom won’t be compromised. The lyrics really highlight the singer’s
struggles with her management in recent years and emphasising the awesome
personal growth, and with a strong backbone to the production that is
intensified by the awesome use of electric guitar in the bridge, the song feels
fresher and shows a great new side of Ferguson that listeners will be dying to
see.
3.5/5
Track 8- Beautiful
Design
Co-written and produced by English singer-songwriter Mr
Hudson, Beautiful design is one of the more pop driven tracks on the record but
which still has a soulful and RnB quality. The song finds Ferguson telling the
listener to let go, to not take love but send it out to the world and just
create a beautiful world for yourself and others to live, with song seemingly
reflecting her new philosophy of life and how she wants others to act around
her, which can only be a by-product of turmoil she has suffered from those she
once trusted. The lyrics are sharp and poetical whilst the emphasis Ferguson
places vocally on the ends of each line really gives a lush, sweet quality to
the track that makes the song live up to its title. Hudson does a great job
with the production, blending piano, strings, guitar and finger snapping beats
to good effect to great this ethereal, gospel like quality to the song that
shows Fergusons new faith and capturing the sweet tone of the song beautifully.
3.5/5
Track 9- Wonderful
World
Another song created with new collaborator Toby Gad,
Wonderful World is a slightly is a forceful but light, more pop orientated
number than finds the singer reflecting on the little instances of life and
looking at her past and just reflecting that she might be dreaming of a better
life now, but she will get their one day, and in the meantime this is a
wonderful world. The songs lyrical message is really nice if slightly clichéd,
whilst the vocally delivery is strong in the way that the song rises and falls
in power to captivate the passion and vulnerability that co-exists within the
song. Gad production utilises a more acoustically driven guitar riff with
clattering drums and shaking tambourine that imbues the track with a summery
feeling that exemplifies the fact that this is a record about moving on and
getting to a brighter future as it is a look back at the troubles that one has
had.
3.5/5
Track 10- We’ll Be
Fine
We’ll Be Fine is another song that kind of immediately grabs
you cause it sounds that bit different, with the plunky guitar rhythms being a
captivating sound. The song is another track that is a fierce slice of RnB pop
that sees the singer going her most dance crazy to date with the almost rave-tastic
beats and euphoric essence of the track that is awesome. The song finds the
singer simply conveying the sentiment that life is hard but there will be times
when you will be just fine. It may be something a million other artists have
said before, but Ferguson brings weight to the track that others haven’t with
her great vocals that have this I have gone through pain but come out stronger
tone that is just a pure pleasure to listen to. The vibrant, energetic beats of
the song may perhaps be something that previous listeners of Ferguson might
struggle to get used to, but the sound is powerful and fits comfortably on the
record and will perhaps gain the singer some new fans.
3.5/5
Track 11- I Choose
You
After brilliantly covering his hit song Strange and
Beautiful, Ferguson teams up with songwriter and musician Aqualung for a
simmering number that focuses upon the singer anaylising the situation and
deciding that she is choosing to be with this person. The song is perhaps the
most romatically inclined record on the set although elements of the lyrics
cover wider ideas of love, and whilst the singers soulful deliver is a bit
grittier and adds weight to the lyrics, the lyrical quality itself isn’t as
strong as usual, with the repetition becoming a bit annoying. The songs sound
moves from slow burning drum beats to a heavy, guitar flecked sound that still
simmers along but which gets to a point of being a bit too powerful, and it
would have been better to keep things more understated, so whilst Strange and
Beautiful was an amazing, beautiful song, this new collaboration doesn’t quite
reach those heights.
3/5
Track 12- Freedom
The albums closing number and title track, Freedom is a lush
ballad that finds the singer giving us this final vulnerable note that blooms
into a freeing spirit that puts the demons of this record to rest. Lyrically it
is such a powerful, almost narrative like piece built around this simple, airy
and immediately captivating chorus that is beautiful. Vocally Ferguson seems to
save her best work for last with the song as her vocals dazzlingly build to
perfectly captivate the songs message. With intensity of the strings piano and
guitar, the arrangement of the production is just lush, and so with this final
song Ferguson the record on such a high and shows that she is just amazing.
4/5
Final Review
With Freedom Rebecca Ferguson definitely does what some
people might have thought was impossible and deliver a really worthy successor
to her previous record. But for me it is difficult to actually say if her debut
is the superior effort or that this album outshines its predecessor. This is
because here we are given a different musical beast. Gone are the lyrics of
love and heartbreak and in its place are equally as lush ideas of freedom,
fighting your battle and forgiveness, beautifully echoing Fergusons life and
exemplifying the fact that this is an artist who is really informed by personal
experiences. The vocals are as smouldering and soulful as the last time but there
is more depth, more control and a more fierce delivery that shows Ferguson
blooming in life and becoming a stronger human being. And whilst the soul/RnB
vibe of her debut is still present, her sound has nicely evolved to reflect her
fiercer attitude, being bolder and a bit more experimental with the use of
horns and dominating drumbeats. It’s just a really developd artist giving us a
record that moves on, shows growth and retains a glamour that is superb and
shows why she is definitely one of if not the best thing to come out of the X
Factor.
9/10
Best Track- My Best
Worst Track- I Choose
You
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