Goldie Standard
Former reality-TV chancer Natalie Duncan has a real voice and proves her talent on this debut release. Channelled through the BBC's Godlie's Band: By Royal Appointment, that institution's television credentials perhaps underpin the authority of Duncan's emergence as a singer in her own right, though I have already acknowledged on this blog the X Factor's part in the revelation of Rebecca Ferguson - however, in both cases the talent is inherent and the programmes offered transport rather than transcendence.
This album is itself a reliable vehicle for Duncan's fine vocal, both gritty and full, and best represented on the strong opener and title track Devil In Me where Duncan is at her raunchiest peak with its unaccompanied start and then emotive breaks around classical piano riffs and bluesy horns. Later track Flower has a hint of Laura Nyro about it; Black Thorn with its acoustic guitar and hand claps foregrounds the grittier voice, and the sweet harmonies temper it all to excellence. There are seventeen tracks in all, and most have a jazz/blues inclination, but this does stretch the album out too far and the aural focus can be dissipated by too many neutral offerings.
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