Archive for the ‘Gemma Ray’ Category
Gemma Ray – The Leader Review
Gemma Ray’s The Leader is appropriately titled, establishing her as the front-runner of recent British exports. Watch your back, Duffy. You, too, Amy Winehouse!
The Essex-born singer-songwriter has a powerful voice and a penchant for layered harmonies, but what makes Ray’s work so remarkable is a knack for transcending her unmistakable influences. Oft-described as a noir-ish version of the 1960s girl group sound, Ray has been inspired by the likes of Nina Simone, Juliana Hatfield and Patti Smith. Perhaps more accurately, she is the sinister sister of singers Holly Golightly or Shelby Lynne. Ray is what Roy Orbison might have sounded like had he been born female and a few decades later.
Brilliantly produced by Ray and fellow musician Michael J. Sheehy, the album has a vinyl-friendly sound that can be likened to reading a good book. The Leader hosts plenty of intriguing stories tucked between winning bass lines and minor key melodies.
Following the superfluous “I Am…”, the album kicks off with “Hard Shoulder”, a percussive piece with layered accompaniment and a reliable initiation to Ray’s love of harmony. Ray wrote one-third of this song in Welsh, part of her aim to learn more languages. Xylophone and wood block contribute to the appeal of “Rise of the Runts” and the infectiousness of “oh, every one of us” will prompt singalongs. “Dry River”, with its crispy guitar and hint of twang, showcases Ray’s vocal range and lyrical playfulness (rhyming “hideous” with “amphibious”). The Spanish-flavoured “Bring it to Me” makes clever use of a güiro and bounds along with a contagious cadence, coming off like the theme song to a vintage Bond film.
The country-tinged “Metal in the Morning” (think She & Him) is an amusing argument against a lover’s fondness for “noise, noise, noise, noise, noise”. Chances are taken with the clap-along rhythms in the Lindsey Buckingham-like “Name Your Lord” and “New Life” yearning emanates with fresh heartbreak. Her vocal here wavers like a sober Courtney Love. “On Your Own” is pure PJ Harvey plaigiarism, and the grunge-era-worthy “Hannah” (written for Ray’s best friend?) is a stand-out, although it’s reminiscent of a Poe or Liz Phair composition.
Echo and fuzz in “The Leader” and the Portishead-style of “Pick Up Truck” fall flat, but all is forgiven with “Eyes and Ears”. Carried by acoustic guitar and an eerie chord progression on the verses, Ray sings about “being deserted here” in a relationship that is “dried up and barren now”.
Well-written and produced with great care, The Leader showcases Ray’s beautiful voice and songwriting prowess, distinguishing her as one of Britain’s most promising musical talents. A leader, indeed.
MP3:
Gemma Ray – Hannah
Gemma Ray – Rise of the Runts
