Nicole Scherzinger's first album was am mixed bag, but on Big Fat Lie she sets the record straight
Nicole Scherzinger: Big Fat Lie (RCA)
Rating: 
With
her raunchy past in The Pussycat Dolls and her on-again, off-again,
on-again romance with Formula 1 ace Lewis Hamilton, Nicole Scherzinger
has never stayed out of the spotlight for long.
Throw in her lively two-year stint on The X Factor and you’d seem to have the perfect launchpad for a sparkling solo career.
But
it is often hard to take Scherzinger, 36, seriously. The Dolls were
more famous for their racy attire than their music, and her first solo
album, Killer Love, was a mixed bag.
She
sets the record straight on Big Fat Lie — a frisky, enjoyable affair
that makes the most of her assured, five-octave voice to forge a
coherent artistic personality, albeit one that owes a lot to Janet
Jackson and Prince.
The
album was made in LA, but the time Scherzinger spent in London filming
The X Factor has left its mark. Her admiration for the open-minded
attitude that prevails in British pop gives her an edge over her U.S.
peers, enabling her to deliver a cool, soulful set that steers clear of
R&B cliche.
She
moves from big, cinematic ballads to the feelgood, summer hooks of
recent Top Ten single Your Love, a song that manages to impress despite
containing a verse that rhymes ‘enticing’ with ‘Mike Tyson’. If there is
a signature sound, it is the jittery blend of funky R&B and
electronic percussion reminiscent of Janet Jackson.
Scherzinger
stretches the soprano end of her voice on the Prince-like Electric
Blue, before dipping into robotic Eighties pop-funk on Heartbreaker.
Having swapped those skimpy outfits for something more chic, she has finally done justice to her vocal talent, too.
The time Scherzinger spent in London
filming The X Factor (pictured) has left its mark and her admiration for
the open-minded attitude that prevails in British pop gives her an edge
over her U.S. peers
No comments:
Post a Comment