The Sea [Digipak] [CD]

a simply gorgeous album , grabs your attention from the first song to the last and leaves you wanting to listen to it over and over again.infact thats all i have been doing since i purchased the cd, the songs are in my head constantly hard to choose a fave but if i had to it would be the sea followed by paris nights. a lot of albums i disregard after a while this aint gonna be one.....love it its just so good..update 6th october 2010 still feel the same way about this album has i did when i purchased it earlier this year infact love it more if ever that was possible. there is not a day goes by i dont listen to this album for me its become a classic lots of albums i purchase come and go this will be one i will keep forever. the best release this year.

Having been keen on CBR since her amazing appearance on Later with Jools she has followed up the debut album with a mixed bag of melodies that fortunately brings her back into the fold. I felt that after her partners death that she would fade away. Thank God she hasn't. The album starts with Are You Here which is melancholic with a fragility in her voice that is both tender and touching, almost mournful, but the second track I'd do it all again sees her begin to wind up the immense sensitivity in her voice. Tracks 3,4 & 5 are rockier with CBR showing the full range of her talents, shades of blues, shades of soul diva and shades of the torch singer emerge. Closer is an absolute cracker of a track. Fortunately my album/record/CD/MP3 collection features a diversity of music where CBR sometimes epitomises Dionne Warwick, Etta James, Ella Fitz etc with the haunting melodies with fantastic backing musicians. I've now played this album at least a dozen times and each time it gets better.

Corinne Bailey Rae's sophomore album is such a leap forward from her self-titled debut the greatest fear has to be that those who tucked into the pink marshmallow of Put Your Records On may just choke on the richer fare on offer here.

References are all to artists and albums that stand out as classics for all time: Curtis Mayfield, 'What's Going On' era Marvin Gaye, and especially Jeff Buckley, whose debut album could have been recorded at any time in the last forty years and yet still sounds contemporary. Oh, and I'm hearing a lot of The Cardigan's first album, 'Life', too... I happen to love that album, it got me over a great heartbreak.

And of course if you know anything about CBR you will know that this is a true heartbreak album. Very few pop musicians - strike that, very few PEOPLE - display the kind of unconditional love that Corinne clearly had for her husband Jason Rae. To have that person taken away from you by an early and accidental death gives one an experience so alien that there is a danger that The Sea (informed by the death of her grandfather as well as her husband) will leave the rest of us staring in at Corinne Bailey Rae from outside the bubble.

That this is not the case is truly remarkable. The music is complex, yet homespun; intelligent AND emotional; deep, yet light. It's all there on display if you want it, but it's also a beautiful piece of music. The other remarkable thing is that the album is self-written without the ubiquitous co-writers of the debut.

Joyfully, the album starts well and after a slightly languid middle section gets better and better. The final triple whammy of Paper Dolls (as disposably fun as it gets), Diving for Hearts (rock!) and The Sea (the pinnacle of Corinne's songwriting so far) leaves one emotionally wrung out in the best possible way.

Some observations: the overall sound of the album is about as far from contemporary RnB as its possible to get: this is music that emanates from a basement, not a computer. I half expected to hear the sounds of coughing and tea cups clinking. While there are 'up' songs and 'down' songs, CBR continues to be a thoughtful songwriter, so there are no easy songs; everything is open and vulnerable, which is not to everyone's taste. Lyrically this English graduate still has some way to go. An album aiming so much higher than the usual fair has its fair share of heroic failues, but this is forgiveable. 'I want you to journey with me/explore all the hidden scenes' is clearly superior in so many ways to 'lick my lollipop', but it's not Wordsworth... yet. Likewise, the melody-writing is not always up to scratch. Feels Like the First Time is largely tune-free after a stonking opening 6 secons that promises way more than the song delivers. But these are minor quibbles. This is a really good album that should stand the test of time.

My greatest hope for this record is that it will move Corinne from the world of faddish 'pop' (she came just after Nora Jones and just before Amy Winehouse) and into a place where she can build a following that will allow her to continue the journey she has begun with this album. Charting a trajectory from Corinne Bailey Rae to The Sea and beyond, we can expect the next album to be something really, really special. For now, this is just very good, a musician's album and a lovers' album. I hope her old fans trust her and that those who may have despised her poppy innocence may discover the beauty and depths of The Sea.