After a very long hiatus, the wonderful Natalie Imbruglia returns with a great collection of covers simply called, "Male". The name is due to all these songs originally being from male artists. While I certainly would have preferred an album of new work, this is a great collection of songs that Imbruglia gives her own personal stamp to.
The promotion and release of this album is certainly a little strange. In the era of illegal downloads it seems strange that the worldwide release has been so staggered. Some districts got it in late July, it was late August for Europe. It seems cruel that Natalie's own Australia had to wait till last to get this album. I can't see that helping with sales at all. But I'll forgive her label because I really did enjoy the album.
Off the bat, this album is not for everyone. It is very stripped back, you may expect to hear some dance beats, but these have all been omitted in favour of acoustic instruments. The benefit of this, Natalie's voice gets a real chance to shine. She sounds wonderful on this album and has managed to make each song her own. It may help that not all of these songs are tracks you may instantly know. Only a few were tracks I knew immediately, others when I heard the chorus I recognised.
Not every cover is perfect, but some are pretty bloody fantastic. First single, "Instant Crush" is inspired. I have been loving this cover for months, the instrumentation sounds great and Natalie's hurried delivery is exquisite. There is a joyous feeling to this track that I just love.
Her cover of Damien Rice's "Cannonball" is also great. It's a lot lighter than the original, and with the great Little Mix cover, the two acts have found different things in a beautiful song. Josh Pyke's "The Summer" feels like it was written for Natalie, this is a wondrous track and she brings such passion to the beautiful lyrics. I also adored her cover of the Zac Brown Band's "Goodbye in his Eyes". I don't know the original, but I loved the country influence Natalie left in the track. This is a stunning ballad, one I will revisit often - it certainly gave me the feels! Her cover of Death Cab for Cutie's "I Will Follow You Into the Dark" is simple but beautiful, love this track.
I can see her cover of The Cure's "Friday I'm In Love" being quite divisive. It's certainly the most iconic of all the tracks on this album, and Natalie has truly given it a new feel by going a little country, a little folk. I personally like the cover and love the fun she added to the great track.
Natalie certainly knows her way around a cover, let's not forget that her worldwide mega-hit, "Torn", was in fact a cover and she owned that! While it's not all perfect, this is a strong album from an artist I am very happy to see back. Now for some original music please Ms Imbruglia!
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