Quote:Listen Up! is very sexy, in a sultry, old glamour way. But unlike Lana Del Rey, whose persona is a Greta Garbo on pills, Haley is not pretending to star in a David Lynch film. She's effortlessly sensual and you can hear it all over the album.

Haley possesses a beautiful voice which has many shades and flavours. From a clear coo to throaty growl. She can belt, and she can whisper. And she sounds like no-one else. My dear mother, who loves music but unlike me doesn't spend much time thinking about it, can always 100% recognise Haley when I play her - which REALLY means something.

Because Haley is such a great vocalist and an amazing live singer, I was really worried that her voice would end up sounding less rich and much more processed on the album (as is the norm in pop these days) but I needn't have worried. While the production is slick, you can still tell Haley is an exceptional singer.

Not only that, she's also a good songwriter: all of the songs on Listen Up! were co-written by her (except for the first single Free), and well...the songs are better than good. Catchy, sexy, timeless, with a retro sheen.

[breaks down individual songs]

Haley Reinhart's debut album Listen Up! sounds every bit Haley-an. You can hear Dusty Springfield and 60's girl bands influences, yet the album ends up feeling timeless, and...modern. And hot.

A recommended listen for sunny summer days of 2012 and many years to come.

(05-28-2012, 06:15 PM)Miguel Wrote: Nice breakdown there. I like hearing people's opinions of individual songs.


The Star Tribune picked up the NYT review and ran it with a nice picture of Haley:

http://www.startribune.com/entertainment/music/154140015.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

Quote:Michael Slezak ‏@MichaelSlezakTV

"I hit the ground runnin' runnin' runnin'/ So don't go followin' me..." Ahhh, @HaleyReinhart, so good to have your new music on my iPod.

Quote:Haley Reinhart is a star for another era.

A jazz-soaked voice that can be both sexy and sweet that was first featured on season 10 of “American Idol,” now has full range to show off. Listen Up! is one of the greatest chart-topping records from the late 60s that never was. But just because Listen is a throwback album, doesn’t mean it’s not very necessary for today.

Actually, it’s quite respectable to embrace such an old school sound. Flowing from doo-wop to jazz, from summery pop to disco, Reinhart’s debut LP isn’t necessarily riding the Adele train, but dusting off the old tracks left behind by performers like Dusty Springfield and Nancy Sinatra and giving them a new shine.

The third-place reality show finisher co-wrote on all but one of the album’s 14 tracks. “Free,” the album’s first single, is the only one the singer didn’t write on, but she still delivers a pure emotion that can too often be void in to world of pop music. A song about heartache and letting go, one might think this 21-year-old is an old soul.

Elsewhere, Haley shines on standouts like “Now That You’re Here,” “Hit The Ground Runnin’,” and the absolutely effervescent “What You Don’t Know.”

Listen Up! wasn’t crafted for Top 40 radio in 2012, but remains true to the artist at its core. And like all artists (with teams pressuring them for a product) sometimes inspirations can become too narrow or simplified, and that’s where the shine can become dull. Yet, for a debut, this is one of the strongest from the “American Idol” line.

It’s a strong start for an old soul in a new age.

Grade: B+

Download: “Liar,” “What You Don’t Know,” “Now That You’re Here,” “Undone,” “Wonderland.”