Corinne Bailey Rae – Corinne Bailey Rae

CD REVIEW

The superb Put Your Records On contributed to the soundtrack of this year’s late summer. An ideal song for hot weather, it should still do the job this summer.

It is, however, an uncharacteristically upbeat song for this tuneful but mellow debut album which is best suited for kicking back late at night.

Corinne Bailey Rae draws her influences widely. Think Alicia Keys with a strong dash of India.arie and a bit of vintage ‘70s soul (in fact, Corinne reminds one of the wonderful Minnie Riperton, who died in 1979)—a most appealing recipe.

The songs mostly deal with the problematics of love, most strikingly in Trouble Sleeping, where the singer denies the reality of ill-advisedly falling in love.

At a time when most new R&B releases have the same boring corporate sound providing the same boring beats to often over-sexualised lyrics, albums like this help restore one’s faith in contemporary black music. Dump Beyonce and her stale ilk, and pick up this little treasure.

Listen to: Put Your Records On; Trouble Sleeping; Till It Happens To You; Butterfly; Seasons Change