Female singer songwriters delivering with slightly smoky, jazzy voices are two a penny, but across this double-disc set, which effectively comprises two mini-albums, Tori Sparks makes every effort to prove that she's got an edge that sets her apart.
In places, she succeeds, and in a convincing fashion, hitting the listener with gutsy vocals and intelligent, articulate lyrics that are characterful, clever and really rather good. She's clearly got an ear for a sharp phrase and knows how to render a scene in words.
Unfortunately, she doesn't manage to sustain the standard throughout. 'Until Morning' – the song – is the first real let-down; with only the sparsest and simplest instrumentation, primarily lap-steel and violin accompany Tori's voice as she iterates and reiterates 'I love you', it all gets a bit slushy (although I won't go so far as to say it gets Natasha Bedingfield, even if it is a little close for comfort). It's a bit drab and slushy and precisely the sort of thing that gives female singer songwriters with slightly smoky, jazzy voices a bad name.
To all intents and purposes, 'Over' is a power ballad, but it's been a while since belting out lyrics about standing strong was fashionable and in some ways, a song like this is quite welcome by way of a change. Plus, Tori has both a good, strong yet cracked vocal delivery and pens unconventional lyrics that have the capacity to grab the listener's attention.
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Sadly, 'My Delilah' isn't the strongest start to 'Come Out of the Dark', being just altogether too much a straight country number. Even more sadly, it's about as good as it gets.
A large part of the problem is that there isn't as much sass or gusto about 'Come Out of the Dark' - but equally, there isn't enough to differentiate it from 'Until Morning', and for this split format to be effective - or worthwhile - there really needs to be more of a contrast – or, ideally, less material. There are some strong songs in here, but their effectiveness gets dilutes by the weaker ones, and I can't help thinking that this would have been much better had it been whittled down to a single disc mini-album.
Tori Sparks Online
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