I will be honest, I don't have much to add to the Blogcritics discussion of Kate Melua's album Call Off the Search. But being a blogger I will throw in my two cents anyways.
If this were an old fashioned cassette tape the first side would be the one that got worn out. From the sultry title track to the playful My Aphrodisiac Is You, from the jazzy Crawling Up A Hill to the seductive The Closest Thing To Crazy or the bluesy Learnin' The Blues, the first four or five songs are quite enjoyable. Melua obviously has talent and, provided you like jazzy/bluesy/Broadway type tunes, the songs are a showcase for her voice. There is really nothing fancy here, just Melua's voice and some basic backup orchestration. But the different styles of music and Melua's pleasant voice make for enjoyable listening. The songs are simple, fun, and stand out from much of today's standard fare.
Starting with Blame It On The Moon, however, things seem to get bogged down. The music slows down and Melua's voice begins to blend song into song. Blame It On The Moon has a very dark and melancholy feel to it which in and of itself is fine, if a little plain. But then the next few tracks offer much of the same. Belfast (Penguins and Cats) continues the melancholy mood while the remakes of I Think It Is Going To Rain Today and Mockingbird Song are flat and fail to offer anything new. The novelty seems to have worn off at this point and all you are left with is a decent voice with rather garden variety orchestration as back up. Melua is veering perilously close to elevator music.
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