Review Summary: Pop albums usually don't get better than this.
Being a pop star is a hard thing when it comes to credibility. Once you are deemed a disposable and shallow act in such a discredited genre as is pop music, your chances to be taken ever seriously outside the genre are closer to zero. At least most rock bands enjoy the benefit of the doubt.
Mandy Moore at least tries to do something different to set herself apart from the pack she really never belonged to, and does an excellent album that is every bit as enjoyable as surprising.
Amanda Leigh doesn't rely on hip-hop, dance music, production artifacts, or other today's common trends. Mandy feels more confident this time. The album has his strong "retro" vibe, drawing influences from that 70's fine pop, bringing to mind flashes of Abba and The Carpenters at times, sounding like old night club music at others.
Music on the album features lush and complex arrangements, with tempo changes and unexpected twists, so practically nothing in here sounds generic or predictable. Here you find real instruments: piano, organ, acoustic guitars, wind and stringed instruments, among others, giving the entire album a warm, heartfelt feeling. Songwriting is notable, production just embellishing already solid songs. Each track is easily told apart from each other, and never rehashes ideas.
You can find soulful and sweet acoustic ballads (opener “Merrimack River”, “Bug”), upbeat, straightforward pop (“I Could Break Your Hearth Any Day Of The Week”), along with more refined and varied songs (Cabaret-esque “Fern Dell”, joyful “Pocket Philosopher”, elegant and gloomy “Everblue”). Mandy's beautiful voice is in top form and is very expressive and colorful.
Amanda Leigh has plenty of surprises, and above all, great music. The album feels like fresh air: it puts a smile on your face.
It is clear Mandy has under her sleeve more than a pretty face and an impressive voice: she co-writes all songs on the album, with some help from collaborator and album’s producer Mike Viola, who certainly has a positive influence on the album’s final sound. But in the end, this is Mandy’s brainchild.
High caliber pop music designed for repeated listens; never pretentious, at all times delightful,
Amanda Leigh is both one of pop’s finest albums in years, and one of 2009’s more pleasant surprises.
If you can get past the fact this is a former pop star, you might be pleasantly surprised of what you can find on here.
4/5
