Travelling Like the Light

by

VV Brown

Edit

Saw V.V. Brown on BBC2, Later with Jools Holland & liked her. Delighted to see her live at Glastonbury 09 & realised she is more than a two song wonder. There are so many female vocalists around, some far to affected & synthetic for my liking, but I love the quirky approach of V.V. Brown & the album is fun & refreshing, even when dealing with tough aspects of life & her experiences. I was even more impressed to hear V.V. participated in Oxjam in South London.

Her music is enjoyable, fun & engaging, her personal style is funky & individual & this is a young musician who deserves recognition & support. Buy the album (a bargain on Amazon, via Indigo Starfish, who as ever were reliable)& support a genuine & authentic artist & not just another TV manufactured pop outfit.

Yasmin

About a year or so ago I saw VV Brown on "Later... with Jools Holland" where she performed "Crying Blood", and I thought she was great, a lively performance combined with a song which sounded fresh but retro at the same time, plus she had a winning look. I heard the other singles too, "LEAVE!" also enjoyable, and "Shark In The Water" a piece of polished pop which sounded quite unlike the other singles. I was looking forward to the album.

Sadly the finished product is a bit of a disappointment after the first listen. My immediate impression of the package was that maybe the record company had got a little too involved in the project, as not only has the artwork been changed from the original design which has been on Amazon for some time now (the finished design is the yellow portrait you see on this page) plus one song has no songwriting involvement from VV herself, and it just so happens to be the strongest and most commercial song - the previously mentioned "Shark In The Water". Could her label have meddled with the track listing I wonder?

The album begins fairly messily. "Quick Fix" sounds a little awkward, almost atonal in places, and her voice jars slightly, but "Game Over" is better. "Shark In The Water" is a slick pop song with a great chorus, easily the most commercial and radio-friendly track here, but as I mentioned before it wasn't written (or co-written) by VV herself, unlike the other tracks. After this opening bunch the album becomes a little more varied, mixing slower songs ("Bottles", "I Love You", and the title track) with more uptempo tracks, but it seems a little forced and uneven. There are some very good tracks here, but on the whole it feels a little messy, as though too many people got involved in the project and tried to force it in different directions.

As I said earlier, this is my opinion of the album after just one listen, but where I hoped it would blow me away it just left a slight feeling of disappointment. Hopefully it will grow on me over time.