The record business hates artists that they can’t quite
\ncubbyhole. British pop\/rock\/jazz artist Billie Myers is a good
\nexample; she first hit the US in 1998 with her hit “Kiss The Rain”,
\nbut since then has managed little more than a few songs on bad
\nAmerican television, a Lilith Fair gig in ’98, a gold record, and
\nno record company. Apparently, Myers recently parted company with
\nher label, leaving
\nVertigo<\/i> – her 2000 follow-up to debut
\nGrowing Pains<\/i> – in limbo.<\/p>\n
All I can say is what a damned shame.<\/p>\n
\nVertigo<\/i> is a tight, clean, upbeat CD, one of the most
\ninfectious CDs I’ve heard this year. (Had I gotten this before 2001
\nrolled around, I suspect it would have made my top ten list last
\nyear). Myers’ powerful, fluid, flexible voice, reminding me of a
\ncross between Amanda Marshall and Taylor Dayne, is surprisingly
\nversatile, slipping from rock to pop to dance to ballad sinuously.
\nMyers makes it look easy. Pretty good for someone who didn’t intend
\nto be a musician and was discovered in a London dance club. (A
\nproducer asked her if she could sing as well as she danced.
\nSurprise.)<\/p>\n
This album has more hooks than Babe Winkleman’s tackle box, but
\nthere are a few specific highlights that I
\nhave<\/i> to mention. The Caribbean-tinged “Roll Over Beethoven”
\nis a viciously funny slam on a lover who takes themselves
\nway<\/i> too seriously. “Should I Call You Jesus?” handles the
\ninflammatory subject of religion with gritty idealism and an
\nelegant, driving melody. “Am I Here Yet? (Return To Sender)” is
\nthought-provoking, cynically hopeful (no, this is NOT a
\ncontradiction) view of the future and how we can handle it.<\/p>\n
I have to, however, reserve special praise for “Flexible”. I’m
\nnot sure what this song is about; I can’t tell. Maybe a
\ncrossdresser? Maybe a girl who thinks she’s James Bond? Maybe
\nsomething else? Who CARES, I tell you; if there’s ever a class on
\nhow to write the perfect “turn UP the stereo and roll down the
\nwindows” song, this will be on the syllabus. (Along with Tom
\nPetty’s “Runnin’ Down A Dream”, if you’re curious.) Special bonus
\npoints for the gratuitous Bond-theme horn riff.<\/p>\n
Go now. Find this CD. It won’t last in limbo long since Myers
\nhas ditched Universal; don’t make the mistake of not getting a good
\ncase of
\nVertigo<\/i>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":28105,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[],"artist":[7631],"rating":[5646],"class_list":["post-39499","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-billie-myers","rating-rating-a"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/39499","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39499"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/39499\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28105"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39499"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39499"},{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=39499"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=39499"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}