Artist: Ricki-Lee
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Title: Fear and Freedom (EMI)
Genre: Pop
Rating: ★★★½
In short: Anthemic
WHETHER this album is any good or not, it’s still a triumph for Ricki-Lee Coulter.
Coulter, a former Australian Idol contestant, almost threw her music career in the bin after some tough times professionally late last decade.
But re-invigorated and re-inspired (and remixed physically!), Coulter has come back stronger than ever.
And, yes, Fear And Freedom is a pretty good album.
Leaving behind her former R&B guise, Ricki-Lee wisely embraces the popular house/electronic sound dominating pop charts currently.
It’s positive pop, mature pop and there’s already hits in the bank — the uplifting Raining Diamonds, the percussive Do It Like That and the addictive Crazy.
Truth be told, many of the CD’s 11 tracks (all co-penned by Coulter) could be singles inlcluding the stylish duo Human and Burn It Down as well as the deep trance style of World Disappears.
Artist: Timomatic
Title: Timomatic (Sony)
Genre: Pop
Rating: ★★★½
In short: Usherific
AH, Timomatic, the reality TV contestant done good.
Seventh on So You Think You Can Dance, third on last year’s Australia’s Got Talent.
There’s no doubt — dude certainly has talent.
Already a radio favourite, Timomatic (real name Tim Omaji) is self-styling as Australia’s answer to Usher.
And with hits like Set It Off, If Looks Could Kill and Can You Feel It, who’s gonna argue?
He’s a popstar with a killer set of dance moves, a great look and style — the full package.
In true pop panache, not a track on Tim’s album hits the four-minute mark and there’s plenty more for dancefloor fiends — and FM radio — to discover including the punchy Satellite and the mid-tempo trio AYO (That’s What I Like), Incredible and Explode.
Yep, he can do house and flip to R&B like it ain’t no thang.
And when Timomatic slows it up, his vocal talents are truly on display.
Artist: The Angels
Title: ???Take It To The Streets (Liberation)
Genre: Rock
RATING: ★★★
IN SHORT: Overdue
THEY’RE Aussie rock royalty having delivered their first, and arguably best known single, in April 1976.
That song, Am I Ever Gonna See Your Face Again, is the epitomy of the pub rock anthem and now The Angels are back to prove there’s life in the old dog yet.
With former Screaming Jets frontman Dave Gleeson taking some time out from his radio hosting duties on 105.7 The River to front this new incarnation of The Angels, Take It To The Streets is an exciting development for a band that hasn’t delivered new material in 20 years.
Gleeson does a great job up front and once you shake the ‘Jets’ factor out of the equation, tracks like Waiting For The Sun and No Sleep In Hell loom as modern day Angels classics.
To The Streets lacks a little oomph to open a record of a band gone so long but rippers like When The Time Comes and a cover of Elvis Costello’s Pump It Up showcase far more heaven than hell.