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Travelling Like The Light
Album Review
By Conrad

At a time when she was largely unheard-of, the Independent described Northampton-born singer Vanessa Brown as an ‘artist to watch’ in 2009. She certainly has been that, rising to be a household name through the course of this year. And after having owned her debut album for around six weeks, it now feels like I’ve always known her music.

Listening to Travelling Like The Light, you can see why – there’s something about her songs that make them already seem like classics. With her distinctive retro look, she incorporates elements of soul, rock and funk into her songs, which each have a different feel to them. Furthermore, she has managed to do so in a way incorporating primarily the parts of these genres we most enjoy. All of the tracks, however, have the shared merit of her highly powerful voice, touchingly beautiful whilst remaining sharp enough for her lyrics to be easily interpretable.

Whilst most of her songs manage to be a lot more fun than a good deal of what we see from British artists, I don’t think this what we should be celebrating most about VV, hence why I think opening with Quick Fix and Game Over which have less of the sheer power of later tracks such as Shark in the Water, L.O.V.E., Crazy Amazing and Travelling Like The Light. So whilst this fun element could be what appeals to you, don’t be put off if you don’t find something deeper until the third track.

On a final note, almost all of Travelling Like The Light’s songs feature superb backing, particularly in the area of percussion, with use of more abstract sources, but extending to excellent utilisation of strings.

So even if you think you wouldn’t go in for this sort of music, as, admittedly, I did before hearing parts of it, give it a go: there’s so much to VV Brown that you’re sure to find something to keep listening to this album.

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