Natalie Imbruglia - Male

Natalie Imbruglia
Male
2015

I am not a big fan of reviewing albums that either are only or have many covers. I decided to take a shot at Natalie Imbruglia's new record Male because it does have an interesting concept. The idea is Natalie and her producer were going to feminize classically "male" songs, which really is code for songs sung by men. The "Torn" artist brings more of a Jazz interpretation to these tracks rather than any sort of feminizing, the kind of stuff you might hear a lounge singer with a 4 piece band. So if we are looking at this record purely on a concept basis, it never comes across. If I had done no research on the record I would have no idea what the point of doing these covers would be. This is a grand idea she is attempting to create but in the end all she is doing is making adult contemporary versions of songs that really didn't need that rehash.

Without the concept coming across musically the album sounds just fine. There is not anything inherently wrong with the record and "I Will Follow You Into The Dark" (Death Cab For Cutie) actually sounds pretty good, but she is not doing anything that  cover artists have not been doing for years. This album would make sense if she had released something recently, but to take a six year breeak from making music then to release a covers record, nothing really adds up here. There are a few other stand outs including The Cure's "Friday I'm in Love" and Pete Townsend's "Let My Love Open the Door" but if those are your best this album needs serious work. For it's lack on a coherent concept and it's blandness in general Male is an utter skip.

2 out of 10