Aaah, KT TUNSTALL: damned if you do and damned if you don't. TUNSTALL seems destined to be pigeon-holed as 'Dido with guitars' or the 'female James Blunt', her cards marked by virtue of her being successful at a time when AOR is in chart supremacy. Which is all true up to a point and her easy-on-the-ear melodies and propensity to strum her big choruses does little to dispel such negative reactions to her music.
But I prefer to focus on the folk/blues backbone to her music which in all honesty I find quite beguiling. Her only crime seems to be to have the audacity to take her natural rootsy inclinations and muddy the waters by possessing the unfortunate gift of being able to write catchy pop songs. There is also the small matter of her singing; she has the makings of being a great mainstream blues voice with her ability to caress and holler within the same song, sounding at times like Lulu in her 60's prime when the throaty rasp kicks in. Isn't that eminently more preferable than the bland and smooth warblings of the majority of female singers in the charts these days?
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As it is 'Another Place To Fall' is standard KT TUNSTALL; but what a high standard she sets with interesting lyrics about a broken friendship, a sinuous and impish verse and that trademark big rush of a chorus that burrows under the skin. While Blunt may be bland with his icky sticky gooey-eyed cloying romanticism TUNSTALL has the knack of giving even her most AOR moments an edge by virtue of her skills as a song-writer, singer and musician.
So, KT, she's alright by me.
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