diogenesagogo wrote:
Just listened to some of her old stuff, up to White Chalk.
I think she's lost more than she's gained. Her emotional & vocal range have been sacrificed for .... what? I'm not quite sure.
Particularly on LES, her voice (for me) sounded too detached, too far removed. I think she said this was deliberate. Well, one of the main things I loved about Polly was her complete, visceral engagement with her songs; even on her gentle stuff, This Is Mine & Beautiful Feeling spring to mind, she was totally engaged. I believed every part of every note she sang.
I may be prejudging - I've only heard the snippets here - but I suspect she's fallen off the edge. I really, really hope I'm wrong.
[quote="diogenesagogo"]
I agree about white chalk and les, her voice seemed to be losing some strength and expression which really to me was the main fault with the last two albums. However, I think the lowest point was 2007. Her voice has been gaining its piwer and expression back, there were some videos of her singing cmon billy earlier this year and her voice was great as ever. To the contrary, I think she's on an uphill swing right now. I mean, her voice was noticeably better on les, on battleship hill, color of the earth, all and everyone, nightingale she sounds very good. I definiteiy think shes on another peak right now. The entire 90s up to stories were a peak for her. She faltered a bit with uh huh her. White chalk was an improvement and a new direction, and les was up there with her best. I suspect this album will rank with her best too.