Another female singer is here with a whole lot of gall, a big piano, and an even bigger voice. Sheila Nicholls owes a lot to her contemporary, Tori Amos. Right off I found her appealing, and not as appalled as she tried to make me. She tries hard to be daring by throwing ‘fuck’ in, but it doesn’t make it quite so fierce. Amos’ power isn’t in her use of profanity, but in the way she brings her songs to life. You can visualize almost any song.
“Hannah” was an attempt at Amos’ style but fails to take such insinuations to that level: “As she swallowed cream/ she could already feel him inside.” A double meaning isn’t enough to get a song off.
Great vocals don’t equal a great record. I kept waiting for Nicholls to take it up a notch, but that time never came. As much as I loved her voice, I couldn’t fall in love with her songs.
+ cc morris
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