Yes, ‘Louder’ is as Glee-tastic as you might expect. It’s also far more enjoyable than you may
have anticipated.
Lea Michele is of course best known as the prissy
foghorn-voiced Rachel Berry from Glee, now forging herself a pop career to
follow her successful work in musical theatre.
‘Louder’ is a collection of eleven original power ballads that could
easily be ripped straight from the TV show, just without the unique remixes and
mash-ups. If that fills you with dread
then you’d better stop here, but you probably knew that already.
The album’s title is certainly fitting. There’s a distinct lack of subtlety on ‘Louder’,
from the overblown production to the astonishingly high volume of Michele’s
vocals. The songs are polished to such a
sheen that they’re devoid of personality, the likes of the uplifting Cannonball and the dubstep inflected On My Way cut from the same cloth as
Katy Perry, Demi Lovato or any other popstar you care to mention. The title track, meanwhile features a guitar
riff seemingly stolen from Taylor Swift’s Red,
whilst You’re Mine literally steals
the James Bond theme heard in Robbie Williams’ Millennium. Battlefield is
the only moment of quiet tenderness – and it’s a welcome one.
Most of the songs are fixated on break-ups, leading to a
fairly one-sided album of downbeat tearjerkers, from the contrived (Burn With You – “I don’t wanna go to
heaven if you’re going to hell”) to the soaringly epic (Cue The Rain). It’s hard to
fault Michele for that, though, when the songs are so blatantly informed by the
death of her Glee co-star and boyfriend Corey Monteith.
Yet despite its flaws, ‘Louder’ is a consistent album of
decent songs. The reason? Sia Furler.
The Australian singer-songwriter has penned four songs in her typically
bombastic style, including lead single Cannonball
and final track If You Say So (co-written
with Michele and most explicitly based on Monteith – “And the fallen hero
haunts my thoughts, how could you leave me this way?”). Other collaborators include the Stargate team
of writers and producers, Benny Blanco, Christina Perri (writer of Empty Handed) and up and coming Swedish sensation Tove Lo (who wrote the electro-fuelled Thousand Needles). For this team the album is pop by numbers, but
for Michele it’s a gateway to pop stardom.
Listening to the album you can’t help but hear the pain of
recent events. Musically the album lacks
originality and star quality, but you can’t fault Michele for belting out the
lyrics in her powerful, impassioned voice.
Who said musical theatre performers couldn’t be popstars?
3/5
Gizzle’s Choice:
* Battlefield
* Thousand Needles
* Cue The Rain
