Frank

by

Amy Winehouse

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Amy, Amy, Amy.....(to quote a song from this album)

FRANK, the debut by the wildly talented Amy Winehouse, released five years ago, is a fusion of 1940s and 1950s jazz/blues and contemporary soul. These songs were released when Ms. Winehouse was nineteen and filled with worldly insight. Yes, most of it's pretty bitter and uncensored accounts of her bad experiences with men, the infamous subjects of her song "F-Me Pumps," who are aging golddiggers, and frank observances about substance abuse and sex.

The band is tight and seamless here. The combination of a soaring horn section, soulful percussion and Amy's sultry vocals make the album as technically brilliant as it is entertaining. I found myself giggling, because her lyrics are just so honest and real! Amy doesn't pull any punches. I particularly love "Amy, Amy, Amy" which is a grand nod to the great jazz and soul bands of the 1930s and 1940s. Damn, that horn is seductive. Also, she penned all of the tunes on this album herself, with the exception of her beautiful, reggae-inspired cover of "Moody's In the Mood For Love." You really can't compare her to anyone! One of a kind.......Brilliant, wonderful and bitingly intelligent..........

Amy Winehouse - Frank (Universal, 2003)

I read about Amy on dustygroove.com and I had to check this album out. She doesn't disappoint here. It may take some time to get into her voice, though. She has a Ms. Dynamite/Nelly Furtado thing going on (although I would listen to Furtado over these two artists). Still, help yourself to "Help Yourself" and the funny but true "F*** Me Pumps", where Amy tells a woman to stop dressing the way she does if she wants some respect in the clubs. Producer Salaam Remi (Nas' God's Son, Fugees' The Score) contributes here as well; in fact, "In My Bed" features the same beat from Nas' "Made You Look". -EJR