Call Off the Search

by

Katie Melua

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In the footsteps of Norah Jones and other new jazz-blues artists comes Katie Melua. Like Norah, she's pretty with those large dark eyes and dark hair. Melua's voice though is of a more girlish and sugary Karin Peris of Innocence Mission-ish tone instead of the crystal clear calmness of Ms. Jones. Melua, who also plays guitar, has Mike Batt as producer, writer of six songs, pianist, and organist on her debut album, Call Off The Search and uses more lush strings on her songs than Jones. For someone looking for something soothing and mellow, check her out.

Indeed, the slow melodic piano, violin, and orchestra on the title track veers more towards the jazz/easy listening side. The title has to do with now that she's found that one, to call off the search. The John Mayall-penned "Crawling Up A Hill" is more on the bluesy side, with jazzy piano arrangements that may be at home on an early Sting solo album, and bewails the tedium of a boring job, where she feels like "my life is like a slow train crawling up a hill."

"How can happiness feel so wrong? How can misery feel so sweet?" sings Katie on the melodic jewel ballad of this crown, "The Closest Thing To Crazy." The strings add to the sadness of the aftermath of an affair, where she discovers the link between "being close to craziness and being close to you."

The humorous "My Aphrodisiac Is You" is a languid piano blues tune where Katie dismisses the rhino horns, Spanish Fly, opium, rubber gloves, or the Kama Sutra, and instead warbles the title. It's a close cousin to Nancy Sinatra's cover of "Let's Fall In Love." Katie strums away on another blues-inflected tune, "Mockingbird Song," although the horns steer it more towards jazz.

Upon hearing the line "the blues will taunt you constantly when you're out in a crowd" in the café ballad "Learnin' The Blues," I remembered the Christmas holidays of 2003, the time heralding my breakdown. Yes indeed, "when you feel your heart break, you're learning the blues."

Another Norah-like tune is "Blame It On The Moon." She does a nice cover of Randy Newman's "I Think It's Going To Rain Today," which with its strings and piano arrangements, make this a highlight. And her closing tune, James Shelton's "Lilac Wine," is a haunting number, on how drinking the sweet and heady lilac wine will make one see what one wants to see, and oh yes, unsteady.

Katie writes two tunes, "Belfast (Penguins and Cats)" an acoustic guitar ballad, and her high note reminds me of Maria McKee, and her tribute to Eva Cassidy, "Faraway Voice." In "Belfast," the idea is how important it is to live, "being able to fly" unlike a penguin, and "dying nine times," in other words living it for all it's worth. As for the other, keep in mind that it was only after Eva Cassidy died of cancer in 1996 at age 33 that she found an audience. "Are you over those hills?/Do you still hum the old melodies?/Do you wish people listened?" she sings, in line with that. Another highlight. And "Tiger In The Night" is another sweet string-laden ballad that may owe as its influence the poem by William Blake, "tiger burning bright/deep in the forest of my night."

Some may dismiss her because she only writes two songs here, as opposed to Norah Jones, but Mike Batt's arrangements, Katie's girlish voice and the way she uses it to evoke the emotions of the songs, and the strings supporting her, do her justice. A great opening shot from Ms. Melua-here's someone with great potential, and maybe someone Renee Olstead should take pointers from. Keep'em coming, Katie!

Katie Melua's debut album is one that does not quite capture the intimacy of the songs when listened to at home. The single "Closest Thing to Crazy" comes across wonderfully and Belfast demonstrates a not often heard ability for using metaphors in a pop song. Sadly, the other tracks all seem to have suffered somewhat in the production process and are all a bit glossy, having lost a certain amount of rawness. Her voice, however, has a charming innocent quality reminiscent of Björk and I can well imagine her being excellent live. This is definitely worth catching for lovers of mellow female singer-songwriters and readily accessible for those looking for something of that ilk.