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Gabriella Cilmi - 'Save The Lies'

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Fraser McAlpine | 09:27 UK time, Tuesday, 12 August 2008

Gabriella CilmiAm I allowed to submit a review that just says "this is a REALLY odd song" about five times? No? It's just that I must have said that out loud to myself about once every 20 seconds while listening to this, to try to get a decent reviewing type grasp on it - a grasp which, as you will see in the next few paragraphs, clearly eluded me.

For example: 'Save The Lies' sounds very late '80s Bananarama at the very beginning - something from the 'Love In The First Degree' era, probably - but then as soon as Gabriella opens her mouth it turns into something from Anatastacia's difficult second album, and after two minutes it appears just become one giant run-on chorus which is all so relentlessly uptempo as to be incomprehensible.

I can't help thinking that I wouldn't find the whole thing so problematic if it weren't following directly on from 'Sweet About Me', because the two songs are about as alike as Paris Hilton and Madame Curie - not that I'm suggesting all artists should follow a common thread for all their songs, but this is such a huge change of approach that it doesn't even really feel like it's by the same artist.

And yet, as troubled as I am by how unbalanced her greatest hits compilation is eventually going to sound, I find the whole thing strangely compelling - I was constantly wondering where on earth it was going next, and even though there are some missteps in here, I applaud her for at least having the chutzpah to take a few risks, anyway.

I think on the whole it needs to focus its energy a little more clearly - at the moment it feels a bit like she had a few too many glasses of fizzy pop before heading into the studio and recorded the whole thing mid-sugar rush, which is not necessarily a bad thing, but I liked her more when she was cool and aloof, whereas here she's a little bit frantic.

How to rate a song that defies categorisation, though? My reckoning is she gets one for an interesting idea, even if it was executed in a rather scattershot way, she gets one for leftover goodwill from 'Sweet About Me', and she gets one for not being Katy Perry. Three it is, then.

Three starsDownload: Out now
CD Released: August 18th

(Steve Perkins)

PS: is a lot more sure about things, claiming that this song is "destined to be a hit, just like her debut singe". I didn't even know she'd HAD a singe. How out of touch am I?

Comments

  • Comment number 1.

    I have to say I love all the female singer songwriters at the minute but I never warmed to 'Sweet About Me' and I could never figure out why. But as soon as I heard this song I liked it. It really grabs your attention whereas 'Sweet About Me' sort of drifts along a bit. In my opinion this is the best song from her album.

Μύ

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