Leona Lewis - Echo (2010)
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Leona Lewis
Echo
Tracks
1. Happy
2. I Got You
3. Can't Breathe
4. Brave
5. Outta My Head
6. My Hands
7. Big Onion - Detroit Grand Pubahs (Joakim Slap On It Remix)
8. Broken
9. Naked
10. Stop Crying Your Heart Out
11. Don't Let Me Down
12. Alive
13. Lost Then Found
14. Stone Hearts & Hand Grenades
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Review By Marc Knevett
After
a slight case of being punched in the face by a maniacal fan just a few
months back, Leona Lewis has returned with her second album
"Echo". Quite an apt title really - this release sees the
songstress take the "If It Ain't Broke" stance, lifting the synth and
ballad heavy format that worked so well the first time around and
applying it to a thirteen track set of Leona-perfect tunes.
Now,
after shifting over six million units with debut album "Spirit", Leona
Lewis has become a big enough name in her own right to recruit top-tier
talent to help bring Echo to light; Max Martin, Justin Timberlake and
Ryan Tedder each lent their hands at some point in the production. Even
as such, whilst "Echo" doesn't quite match the standards set by its
predecessor, "Echo" is hardly bad nor entirely repetitive; in fact it
is faster, heavier and even a little more fun.
Lead single Happy
features sauntering piano-driven verses that propel toward an upbeat,
empowering chorus, exemplifying the direction this album takes. Outta My Head delivers a heavy pulse and My Hands is destined to be a single, while Don’t Let Me Down and Broken deliver the requisite powerhouse ballads see Lewis take her best asset and dominate.
However, it is Lost Then Found,
a collaboration with OneRepublic, that stands out; Ryan Tedder and
Leona saunter back-and-forth over a track that is as equally suited to
one as it is the other. It is frivolous, it is well produced, and it
has hit (and massive guilty pleasure) written all over it.
The
common thread amongst it all of course is that voice, the one that
climbs dizzying octaves, making it sound effortless and all the while
gratifying those with a mind open enough to appreciate the sheer scale
of it all.
Say what you will but reality television truly is
capable of finding real talent, and this woman is proof. Leona is a
needle in a haystack, even amongst the pool of winners of these
glorified karaoke contests; a dynamic diva and a master of her craft
who unknowingly lays her contemporaries to waste. "Echo"
stands testament to the next chapter in her long-to-be career, and
while it’s not quite for everyone, it is a piece of work that speaks
for itself and will undoubtedly delight the masses once again.
RATING: 4 out of 5
Brought To You By The Dwarf
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