STUCK RECORDS

Leona Lewis – ‘Echo’
UK Release 16/11/09 (Syco)

If there’s really such a thing as that “difficult second album” then ‘Echo’ certainly meets the criteria. Leona Lewis’s debut album ‘Spirit’ sold almost 3 million copies in the UK alone. Following a successful re-release of her debut album last Christmas, the expectation of ‘Echo’ will surely be to keep Lewis at the head of the lucrative festive charts for a third successive year. Yet with X Factor alumni Alexandra Burke and JLS recently topping the charts, this album needs to establish her as more than the vocal benchmark from a talent show. Thankfully only two tracks on the album are co-written by Ryan Tedder. Having penned Lewis’s signature track ‘Bleeding Love’ in 2007, he’s since become infamous for providing Beyoncé, Kelly Clarkson and Jordin Sparks with a raft of similar sounding songs. Instead ‘Echo’ employs an array of big-name writers and producers such as Justin Timberlake, Max Martin and Kevin Rudolf. In fact almost every contributor to the album has a wealth of experience to their name which shows the kind of company that Lewis is keeping nowadays.

The result is a consistent, if fairly “safe” album. First single ‘Happy’ sums up mostly what this album is about – melodramatic numbers with melodies around which Lewis’s soaring vocals drape themselves effortlessly. ‘I Got You’ is perhaps evidence of the approach to the album; parading an uplifting chorus with layer upon layer of vocals, the lyrical content is almost completely lost under the rush of production yet the high notes manage to escape the mire. Yet there are attempts to position Lewis as more than just an accomplished balladeer. ‘Outta My Head’ attempts to introduce frenzied synths amid pitch-changing production which wouldn’t sound out of place on Britney’s last album. Yet Lewis lacks a slick, tight delivery which leaves her vocals floating hopelessly above the music. In truth it’s like listening to two separate tracks which happen to have been played over one another. More appeasing however is ‘Love Letter’ which is nowhere near as forward thinking – in fact the guitar strings give way to a perky, feelgood pop backing track that Steps would’ve been proud of. Yet Lewis truly seems to engage with the track, managing to wring an admirable amount of emotion from such banal lyrics as: “Through the sunshine and through the rain, I know that it’ll last forever; just last night I stayed up late, and I wrote you a love letter”.

Having tried a small variety of different styles, it’s barely a surprise when ‘Naked’ rolls around and eventually unfolds into a pop-with-a-hint-of-rock track that could comfortably sit alongside Kelly Clarkson’s better album tracks. Of course, there’s little shift in Lewis’s delivery of the song but it throws out an enjoyably sing-along chorus and shows that given the right songs there is the scope to deliver tracks with a more defined beat. Yet we already know that Lewis doesn’t lack confidence when taking on rock numbers having turned Snow Patrol’s ‘Run’ into one of her own best known singles. This time around she sets her sights on Oasis’s ‘Stop Crying Your Heart Out’ (which may explain its continued use on the X Factor this year) and delivers it as you’d expect. In fact it’s a like-for-like repeat which will no doubt find an appreciative audience. Yet the song is probably better known than ‘Run’ and was suitably epic in its original guise which leaves it feeling very much the poorer relation of the two re-makes.

Vocally, ‘Echo’ scores full marks on all counts. For the most part Lewis sounds comfortable and when pushing her vocals, is arguably second to none amongst her contemporaries. Yet like ‘Spirit’, the album feels largely void of character and personality – the lyrics are often little deeper than a puddle and whether the song is fast or slow, heartbreak or love song, each and every one is delivered with the same breathtaking gusto which may leave some listeners craving restraint. ‘Echo’ is not a bad album by any means; in fact it’s hard to imagine that the end product could’ve been much different with so many writers and producers desperate to get on board. But Lewis as a person feels too much of a by-product, pushed outside of the creative process whilst her voice remained in the studio. Which is where Alexandra Burke might just have the edge on her.

***
Craig Herman