The first time I ever heard Emmy Rossum's voice was from the movie version of Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera. She starred as the female lead, Christine, and I was blown away by her performance. With her voice and talent, I knew it was only a matter of time before she came out with her own album, and sure enough, here it is.
Emmy Rossum's debut album, entitled Inside Out showcases her talent with her voice, alright, but in an entire different way from what fans of The Phantom of the Opera might expect. Rossum doesn't try to show off her range or the high notes she can hit in this album. Instead, she shows off her voice as an instrument of harmony. It is one of the things that instantly strikes you when you listen to her songs.
There are very few musical instruments that can be heard on the album and excepting some keyboard and percussion, almost every other sound is sung by Rossum herself. She says, "I wanted to create a kind of music that would allow me to use my voice as another instrument. I sing the parts that would be played by guitar or piano. I tried to discover, how much can you do without instruments? What is the boundary of the human voice?” The result is an amazing album of songs that delights the senses with their sweet sounds and peaceful harmony.
The song "Slow Me Down" is the perfect example of how beautiful music can be when Rossum uses her voice to replace the usual instruments. Rossum sings every single one of the 150 parts and harmonies of "Slow Me Down", including some of the percussion! It sounds wonderful and very serene, and listening to it makes you want to relax and slow down a little. "Stay" is like a very sensual siren's song, and you can almost imagine yourself as the besotted sailor who finds it really, really hard to resist Rossum's plea for you to stay with her for that one romantic moonlit night. "Falling" is my favorite and it makes me feel like a giddy teenager tumbling into love. You can listen to the songs on her myspace page.
Article comments
1 - michelle
hey emmy i have all of yuor songs on my ipod nano but am wondering when will u send out lulibye? i really like that song! also my mom went to columbia university a week ago and i told her that if she saw you tell her that i am a hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhuuuuuuuuuuuggggggggge fan and would love your autograph!! also i have a whole wall of you!! and its just awesome to have a role model like you who knows what they want to do in life!
2 - Neko
I found her songs to be a bit... over-produced (for the lack of a better word). There is so much layering and tweaks done that you kind of lose whatever purity could have been there.
I'm sorry, but for someone who people talk so highly of when it comes to music, she is a bit of a let down to me personally. She's not even a soprano, or mezzo, she is an alto. The high notes in the Phantom of the Opera movie were strained, and some synthed.
She could be such a great singer, maybe if she could just understand her own voice.
3 - Betty Wong
Neko, you do have your points. However, as a person who reviews different types of music, I usually find it easier to judge their music by what the musicians are focusing on.
You can't judge a rock singer the way you would a jazz singer for instance. And if a band's music is great, but their singing isn't all that good, you shouldn't judge them based on their voice.
I thought Emmy's purpose in this album was to show more of her creativity and what her voice can do as a replacement for instruments, rather than to show off her voice itself, so I judged her album based on her musical creativity rather than her singing skills.
4 - keira
I haven't listen to the cd yet but it wiil be awesome i know for a fact....but her performance in The Phanto of the Opera was incredible no matter what anyone else says...always and forever biggest fan....!!!Ü-
5 - Joanna
Imogen Heap's music is like hers, actually. Her voice is all right - a lot of my highschool choir solos sounded on par with her, if not better. I agree with the overproduction, not to mention, her music video is ridiculous. It's everything like other solo female singers running, rolling around on a bed, posing on a couch. Nothing special here.
6 - Linda
....zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz....didn't enya do this years ago????
7 - Mark
I hate what Joe Corcoran (Digital Editor for the album) did to it you can not really get a clear picture of her real voice because of the effects
8 - Ben
Sorry to inform you but Emmy is a soprano and hit the high E in Phantom without any enhancements, She can actually hit high F.
9 - sav
emmy is a good singer and performer especially in the movie "the phantom of the opera". its fabulous and i love it!