"Second Time Around"
(157 Records)
four / ten
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NEL BRYDEN "Second Time Around" (157 Records)
four / ten |
There is a definite head of team building behind Nell Bryden. Her mixture of Americana-Blues-Soul has been successful enough to take her around the globe a couple of times and the title track from this record has cracked both the Irish and British singles markets. But a quick glimpse at the quality of acts she has supported (The Counting Crows, KT Tunstall & Declan O'Rourke) tells you all that you need to know; that Ms. Bryden won't be making the tabloids for driving a limo into a swimming pool anytime soon.
Indeed, Second Time Around is so incredibly safe and thrill-free that you wonder what was the point in creating it at all? Sure, Bryden's voice is her real trump card, a soothing, blemish free instrument. But it's rendered near pointless by the exceptionally unexceptional material here.
There's nothing wrong with looking back to the past; certainly there's many exciting acts that are blatantly unoriginal, but the path trodden by the New York based Bryden is so well worn that it's in urgent need of major surgery. There is nothing in the likes of 'Green Dress' or the cobweb covered lyrical tropes that are trotted out on 'Where The Pavement Ends' that haven't been done infinitely better by great names of the past such as Emmylou Harris or Lucinda Williams.
At its worst Second Time Around can actually make one believe that they've been catapulted into a scene from Ally McBeal, just before Vonda Shepard comes onstage to shriek her way through another contender to soundtrack a Tampax commercial (sorry girls!). If thereีs a second time for you and this record- get help.
Alan Morrissey
www.nellbryden.com
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