Amy Winehouse has balls. If you were in any doubt about the authenticity of this statement, please turn your attention to her aptly titled debut album Frank, a no holds barred break up album that – for all its vicious man hating and humorous put downs – was a courageously honest depiction of a broken heart struggling to mend.
Indeed, like all the best jazz and soul singers down the years, Winehouse would sooner show you her scars than trophies won (Ivor Novello, for those of you asking).
Hard to believe it’s been three years since that acclaimed album was released but now she’s back with Back to Black, in which she hooks up again with Frank producer Saleem Remi and also enlists the services of the Big Apple’s current go to man Mark Ronson (Christina Aguilera, Lily Allen and Robbie Williams).
They say:
Word: “Possibly the best British soul album since Soul II Soul ‘Club Classics Vol.1.”
NME: “Contender for album of the year.”
The Observer: “Winehouse could release albums of knuckles cracking from here on in: her reputation is already assured.”
We say:
In light of Winehouse’s recently panned performance on The Charlotte Church Show, an alcohol fuelled catastrophe that resembled a car crash you couldn’t look away from, it is fair to say her second album was approached with some trepidation.
What a huge relief, then, to find Back to Black surpasses its predecessor in every way, taking its jazzy soul roots and fusing them with gorgeous ‘50s and ‘60s Motown girl group pop that conceal the intensely articulated emotional turmoil inside.
As her latest actions suggest, she’s once again a troubled woman, haunted by the betrayal of an ex lover and a self imposed ghost to the new man in her life whose name is tattooed next to her heart. “Memories mar my mind/Love is a fate resigned,” she confides on the smoky ballad ‘Love is a Losing Game’, while on ‘He Can Only Hold Her’ she declares, “How can he have her heart?/When it got stole”, accompanied by a cool urban rhythm and tasteful bursts of trumpet and tenor saxophone.
Meanwhile, on ‘You Know I’m No Good’ she’s, err, man enough to admit her own nefarious role in the demise of her previous relationship (“Then you notice likkle carpet burn/My stomach drop and my guts churn”).
Fortunately, she’s lost none of her razor sharp bite or humour. ‘Me & Mr Jones’ displays both, reminiscing about the time her old flame forgot to get tickets for a Nas gig. “What kind of fuckery is this?” she protests, her dirty mouth sweetened somewhat by early Martha Reeves and the Vandellas style doo wop harmonies. “I might let you make it up to me/Who’s playing Saturday?”
Best of the bunch, though, is the title track, an extraordinary post break up song brought to life through soul stirring violins and a vocal performance that conjures up the tortured spirit of Billie Holiday and, at times, the first lady of song Ella Fitzgerald.
And it is evidence, if need be, that Winehouse is – drunken television appearances aside – one of Britain’s greatest female artists.
Like this? Try these:
Christina Aguilera – Back to Basics
Ella Fitzgerald – Essential Ella
Martha Reeves and the Vandellas – Dance Party
RELEASED
30th Oct ‘06
LABEL
Island
POSTED...
Wed 1 Nov 2006 at 6:51am
