There is something that’s often missing in the world of light
pop – soul.
I don’t mean to suggest that we need to hear Ray Charles or
Aretha Franklin influences in pop. But a lot of what I hear on the
radio (and, in some cases, in what I review) sounds very sterile,
as if what I’m hearing was created in a lab, not in a recording
studio.
In the case of Ronna, her debut disc
Day 14 suffers from this fate. To her credit, she does
discover some emotion and conveys it in some songs well, but by
then it’s too late.
When you have a disc produced by former Chicago bassist/vocalist
Peter Cetera, one might expect the album to sound like his old
group. Fortunately, this is not the case; Ronna is allowed to
develop her own unique style and voice on this album. The problem
is, Ronna still is developing her style, so many of the
performances on the first half of the disc sound tentative.
Things start out well with “Heart Shaped World,” but Ronna soon
shows the weaknesses in her musical development. The very next
track, “Everything Comes To You,” is a major step down both
musically (the rhythm seems very jagged) and lyrically (“Your
two-way mirror has got no doors”?) Other tracks, such as “13 Days
Of Daisy” and “Sweet Pretender”, almost seem like Ronna is trying
to turn each song’s verses into a novel – simplicity is sometimes
the best path.
There were one or two times where it seemed like Ronna was
having difficulties staying on-key – namely, the album’s closer
“Convince Me”, which admittedly has a weird chord progression from
the bridge to the chorus.
However, this isn’t to say that
Day 14 is a bad album; it’s just that it often sounds like
Ronna is not singing from the heart. Often, Ronna’s sound is
similar to that of Sheryl Crow, but Ronna’s voice just doesn’t seem
to emote the same way that Crow’s does.
Finally, Ronna seems to wake up and kicks things into gear.
Tracks like “Nowhereville” and “New York Rain” are among the best
on
Day 14, and they highlight just how good her music can be
once things start clicking. Too bad the energy level isn’t
continued on tracks like “Waiting For You” – though it picks up
again on “One Fine Day”.
Cutting an album is every musician’s dream, and Ronna is
obviously thrilled to be living out that dream on
Day 14. But while this album shows some promise, it also
shows that dreams need constant work – and she has her work cut out
for her.
