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MUSICBOX: Sweet surrender
Afterglow is Sarah McLachlan’s first full-length studio album after 1997’s multi-platinum smash, Surfacing.
In 1988, McLachlan embarked on an impressive and exceedingly promising musical career with her powerful debut Touch. Since then, there has been no looking back for the artist as she has been successfully ‘building up mysteries.’ The 35-year-old Canadian songbird has been creating strong musical ripples with her creativity as a singer and songwriter. A diva of the early ’90s, the McLachlan sound continues to flourish by virtue of its dedication to the art. Her firm grip over the vocals is emphatically amplified by her musical maturity, elevating tunes and well-conceived harmonies. While other female singer-songwriters like Jewel are turning to money-making pop gimmicks to increase album sales, McLachlan remains fairly oblivious to teen-pop and is genuinely committed to the cause of perpetuating her image as a no-nonsense musician. Like Dido, McLachlan’s down-to-earth voice has become an authority in the adult alternative (folk) pop scene, which simply can’t be ignored!
Afterglow opens with the enthralling single Fallen, where McLachlan is lyrically at her best. Even though the song is a heart-wrenching expression of the bleakest eclipses in her life, Sarah radiates an optimism that can break the raindrops into the breathtaking tints of the rainbow! She takes charge of the piano chords with flair and finesse. In Push, the artist dedicates her rhyming schemes to define the sentiments of love in her supple and smooth signature style. The impassioned whispering effects of the artist’s voice are mesmerizing.
The post September 11 scenario has affected both the artist and artisan. In World on Fire, McLachlan laments the unprotected vulnerability of the world through her wordplay. Time and Answer are the other standout tracks on the disc.
Any redundancy in the lyrics is not conspicuous because the elegant vocals and word-smart and intelligent lyrics form the nucleus of the sound. Afterglow ignites confidence in life and replenishes the passion of faith and is sure to relax the minds and moderate the frenzied tempers because of its genteel strokes, brilliant production values and haunting melodies. For the artist, the album should efficaciously keep her music career all aglow!—-Taimur Saleem
Tryharder
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As her name suggests, Pink is one of the most colourful musicians in the industry. Cheekier than Christina Aguilera, more real than Britney Spears and cooler than either Mandy Moore or Jessica Simpson, the diva is the consummate anti-pop princess. With her in-your-face nose ring and tattoos, constant smoking and swearing, the artist has proven to be a profit-making, photogenic rebel.Born Alecia Moore, the 24-year-old has been a spokesperson for a make-up company, and at the beginning of her career, she was often compared to Alanis Morissette. She burst onto the pop scene with her smash hit Get the Party Started, penned by her mentor, Linda Perry of 4 Non Blondes.
Her latest CD, Try This, exudes less of the pop and more of the rebel in the artist. As she tries to establish herself as a long-lasting, more serious artist, she fails to appreciate the value in being a maker of infectious tunes, and the results are a hodgepodge of unfinished songs that are missing that certain something that was always inherent in a Pink single. Aside from the overrated lead single Trouble and the indulgent God is a DJ, the very confidence and strength that surrounded Pink from her early days and which initially attracted fans to her, is sorely missing in this album. Instead, she seems lost and confused in trying to find herself. The worst moments on Try This, especially the less than mediocre ballad Catch Me While I’m Sleeping, reflect this. Ironically, Catch Me While I’m Sleeping was penned by Perry and is simply a waste of both her and Pink’s talents. Over half the rest of the CD was penned by Rancid’s Tim Armstrong in the hope that he would provide the much-desired rock touch to the disc. Unfortunately, he too has been unable to make any magic. His Tonight’s the Night sounds like a failed No Doubt ska clone, while his cocky Humble Neighbourhoods, like much of the rest of this album, is not even worth this review space.
Pink is one of the most talented artists in the industry and it’s a shame Try This does not reflect her capabilities. It seems more like a ‘growing pains’ kind of CD on which she is actively experimenting. Although it’s admirable that she wants to try new styles, it’s a pity she’s doing it on our time.—-T. U. Dawood
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