A few days ago I was heading off to a gig in Manchester when I heard a beautiful performance of ‘Wild Horses’ on my car radio. The voice was young and beautiful, the arrangment of this classic Stones song just perfect for the artist in question. ‘Who the hell is that?’ I thought, and then waited for the artist’s name to be announced. Shit! Susan Boyle, no friggin’ way! If I could have rewound the radio I would have done. Hell what do I do now having heard such a beautiful performance that just won’t leave my head. Hell! this is a ‘cool’ music site…

Cool we may or may not be, but we do appreciate all great music, regardless of the who or what, and so here’s a review of what has become one of our albums of the year. The first thing I should say is that there is an extraordinary (personally) perceived difference between the voice and the owner of it. Perhaps it’s because we’re so used now to seeing the young and pretty and/or controversial pepper the charts. Perhaps it’s because Boyle arrived in our lives via another Simon Cowell moneyspinning extravaganza… So, as a reviewer I’m ignoring the how, when and where…

The album opens with said song, ‘Wild Horses’, which I’ve now played many times. The arrangement and production are peerless while Boyle’s rendition is moving and intensely sensative, and the simple piano backdrop is masterly. Boyle’s natural voice rises and falls seamlessly, fluidly with enough expression to warm the coldest heart. ‘I Dreamed A Dream’ repeats the trick before a cover of ‘Cry Me A River’ arrives. This is something of a revelation in that Boyle adapts her voice wonderfully well to this timeless and sad classic. This for me was the major (pleasant) surprise of the album  (don’t be surprised to see album number 2 made of standards like this one…).

Then sweetness and light descends with the inevitable eccliastical inclusion, ‘How Great Thou Art’, which in this fine collection is a mistake and should have been saved for a ‘Holy Songs’ collection. That said, it’s a wonderful and somewhat darker inetrpretation. Madonna’s ‘You’ll See’ brings us back to where we started with a cover that comes dangerously close to bettering the original. It’s dark with wonderful vocal phrasing and sumptious orchestral arrangement, punctuated with telling acoustic guitar moments.  Boyle provides the best vocal performance on the album, whispering one moment, soaring the next. Then lightness descends again with the Monkees’ classic ‘Daydream Believer’ and another strong, stripped down interpretation. 

‘Amazing Grace’ is the second error in my view but  ’Up The Mountain’ works well here though as a harder slice of gospel. ‘Who I Was Born To Be’ is an original song here and has obviously been written around Boyle’s life and ambitions. It’s predictable and sounds like a Celine Dion song with massive orchestral and choral passages - it originally didn’t work for me, but after a few I now like it.  ’Proud’ lifts the ambition with a much more assertive vocal effort, and a welcome edginess creeping in. The 60’s ‘The End Of The World’ is I guess a Boyle personal favourite but this time the original wins out by a country mile, and sounds a little weird sung by this lady. The album ends, predictably, with Christmas favourite ‘Silent Night’ - another mistake, but a glorious one.

There are more winners than fillers here and enough to showcase a voice that I feel is capable of travelling an even more adventurous path. I sense that Boyle has hand-picked the songs and is living her life and dreams through them. There’s also an understated quality to her voice on some of the songs which actually renders them more poignant and personal.  Make no mistake, this is a lovely album and one many will play often, without actually admitting it…

4/5