Thursday, November 7, 2013

V V Brown Stays Original On New Album

V V Brown has always been original. On her debut album Travelling Like the Light Brown had a old school soul sound similar to Amy Winehouse, yet with a more dance-punk influence. So when Brown unveiled the first single for her second album Lollipops & Politics, Brown stayed in the same vein as her previous album. "Children" which featured Chiddy from Chiddy Bang was one of her best songs.
When Brown planned to scrap the album right before it's release, concerns were raised.
Then this year Brown released the first single off of her second album Samson & Delilah. "Samson" and the follow up single "The Apple" have new wave sound which mixes in dance and pop elements.
The album opens with the best song on the record "Substitute for Love." The song is slow and features a sparse instrumentation. Brown's vocals on the song sound gorgeous and emotive. This is the perfect way to start this record.
The new wave sound is prevalent on highlights such as "I Can Give You More," Igneous" and "Nothing Really Matters." While there are lots of good songs some of them can get a little strange. "Looking for Love" is a little strange yet it works and the first single "Samson" is a little quirky. These songs are still good and still work as evidence that Brown's new sound is  working.
Second single "The Apple" is a fun and funky song that recalls slightly some of Brown's older music. The tail end of the album is where shit gets really weird. "Faith" is a duet with Laurence Aldridge who wrote several songs with Brown on the record. "Ghosts" is a very 80s inspired song that is good but it isn't one of the best songs on the record. "Knife" is a gorgeous ballad that starts off with piano and has Brown getting very emotional. This song is a very honest retelling of the end of a relationship. Brown's vocals are hauntingly good and this song makes the listener feel the pain she felt while dealing with the end of a love. "Knife" should have been the ending song on the album but the album's actual last song on the record isn't as great.
"Beginning" is a strange ballad that starts out too slow and doesn't grab the listener's attention. While this song ends the album on a bad note, the songs that are good are good enough to make you forget about the mistakes on this album. While these songs are great, they don't come close to Brown's signature song "Shark in the Water." "Substitute for Love" comes close but Brown doesn't quite outdo her biggest hit. This record is a good step in this new direction that Brown has gone in and you can't fault an artist who changes their entire sound and tries something new. In a world where too many artists don't experiment Samson & Delilah sets Brown apart from the crowd.

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