Album Review: Andrea Corr – Lifelines
4 min read
Irish beauty Andrea Corr releases her highly anticipated and long awaited new record this month titled Lifelines. With its lead single, the gorgeous Tinsletown In The Rain, gaining momentum since its release to radio, the build up to the parent records release has been a long one.
It’s been quite a while since we have heard anything new from the singer who has been busy in the four year gap between records receiving acclaim on stage as Jane Eyre at The Gate in Dublin and in London in The Old Vic’s production of Brian Friel’s Dancing at Lughnasa as well as taking time out of the music industry to find her voice and passion for music again.
The singer is no stranger to the limelight however. As the front woman of the hugely successful Irish sibling pop quartet The Corrs, Andrea has racked up an astonishing 60 million record sales and toured the globe multiple times selling out stadiums the world over.
With the Corrs on hiatus while her siblings raise families and pursue their own solo projects, Andrea has had time to focus on her solo career. Lifelines is the follow up to Andrea’s 2007 debut solo outing, Ten Feet High. Although the debut record wasn’t a commercially successful release in comparison to her previous Corrs work it provided Andrea with her first lone project outside of the comforts of a band that included her sisters Sharon and Caroline and brother Jim, for which she was a part of for over ten years.
Lifelines is a collection of covers that sees Andrea tackling numbers that hold a special place in her heart and numbers that she has grown up listening to and which inspired her to get into music from a very early age.
The collection is very tame with balladry being the focus. I’ll Be Seeing You opens the record and is probably the most sombre number on the album with a melancholic and echoed piano opening as Andrea is ushered in offering a seductive introduction to the record and giving us the feeling of sitting in a smokey 1940’s Jazz lounge.
Pale Blue Eyes is an atmospheric and warm follow up with some lovely guitar work that matches Andrea’s gorgeous tones that are supported by some syrupy backing vocals that give the track a slightly anthemic feel particularly nearing the end of the number.
Blue Bayou is a standout on the record and sees Andrea gliding flawlessly through the 1963 hit made famous by iconic American rockabilly singer Roy Orbison. The songs complimenting island feel gives the album a worldly feel and something a little more bouncy than the opening numbers. Andrea’s voice is also in top form on this track as she jumps from low to high registers with ease and showcases her versatility in tacking such demanding and iconic pop songs with faultless precision.
No 9 Dream is given a new life as Andrea takes on the famous John Lennon number and the song, with its swaying guitars and nostalgic dream sequence melodies as well as Andrea’s layered vocals and textured peaks, create the most memorable and complimenting ballad on Lifelines.
Among the majority of ballads featured on the new record there are also a couple of uptempo numbers that break the record up and offer us something to tap our feel along to. First up is State Of Independence. The Vangelis penned number was later made famous by Donner Summer and an all star choir and now Andrea puts her Irish stamp on the number and makes the song her own with impressive results.
The second promising number is the records lead single, Tinseltown In The Rain. This one is the album highlight without a doubt and the best single that Andrea has released in her solo journey to date. The uplifting melody of the track holds well amongst the rest of the track-listing. This is also probably the most familiar song that Andrea has released and could easily slot into any of the later Corrs records. Her seductive vocals are drenched with sensuality as she bops around a melodic structure of guitars and some wailing backing vocals while hitting some belting highs in the songs midsection that leads to the tracks final chorus leaving us wishing there were more uptempo numbers like this one offered on the record.
Other notable moments on the album include the acoustic, guitar heavy They Don’t Know and the sentimental Nike Drake classic From The Morning which Andrea sings with nothing short of pure conviction and dedication.
Lifelines is a gentle release for Andrea and although the release tends to be quite a predictable step for the singer in terms of style and approach, it is a very welcoming return to form for one of musics most recognizable and gifted vocalists. We can’t wait to see a lot more from Andrea throughout 2011 as she heads out on the road to tour the record with slots at this years Isle Of Wight Festival and a performance at London’s Union Chapel.
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