Many men would agree that the sight of a woman wearing a wedding dress looking slightly demented would be enough to have you running in the other direction. So it's very possible that many men won't even pick up Rachel Van Slyke's debut album, for that is exactly the look she has adopted. But then, this isn't an album for the fellas.
The album itself is familiar territory to anyone who has followed the careers of Sixpence None The Richer or Sheryl Crow. The kind of acoustic prettiness that one would associate with an adult orientated female musician. You have the slightly upbeat numbers, and then you have the ballads. They are interspersed fairly evenly, as you would expect.
To be fair, it is quite a nice voice. At times Rachel's voice leans towards something that would be more effective working with a post-rock band, but as we head to any of the choruses, the Dawson's Creek sound-track just spills out of her. There is potential in Van Slyke being a very useful cash-cow when it comes to backing movies; 'Won't Be Back' is a strong example.
It should also be said that lyrically, it is not as formulaic as the actual sound. For example, 'Never Me' leads with the line “I've buried everything debilitating me/and yours are blanks not penetrating.” “Walking home in the street armed with a guitar/yet I feel too out of reach for anyone to want to harm,” ('You Think You Know') is another that would suggest that she has the potential to be something a bit grittier, were the music not so toothless. They're not exactly lyrics you'll hear coming out of the mouth of the next X Factor winner.
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It's a collection of love songs. Mainly about being hurt, or hurting, or at least not having a nice time. It's hard to pick out a favourite as they all take on similar territory, and this becomes more of a problem as it's hard to remain interesting when you were hardly engrossed in the first place.
There's nothing remarkable about them and this music has to be marketed to a crowd who prefer not to be surprised by their purchases. Some of them would sound apt on adverts, some people might like it soundtrack their relationship break up, but it's probably for those who like to digest nice easy sentiments.
There is always room in the charts, it would seem, for a female artist who leans towards the generic. So if you're pondering why the new Dido album is taking so long to emerge, this might be worth a purchase. If, however, you prefer to care about what you listen to, then this is one to avoid. She could be huge with a long career of mass-producing more of the same, or she could fade away instantly; it'll all be down to the marketing.
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