The Song Diaries (Sophie Ellis-Bextor)

EN “The Song Diaries” is the name of the compilation album by English singer Sophie Ellis-Bextor, released on March 15, 2019, made in collaboration with Ed Harcourt, the bassist of the band The Feeling (and husband of the artist) Richard Jones and David Arnold. The album shows the singer's journey through nineteen reinvented tracks, leaving behind their original instrumentals and having an orchestra to accompany them.

Despite being a compilation, the album features an unorthodox song that served as the album's lead single, “Love is You”. The song continues in the usual pop register of the singer and ends up looking a little out of context with the project, since this would serve to celebrate all her singles but without the “special” effects and stripped of any electronic part, being only to brighten up an entire orchestra. The single is not bad, but it is also not fantastic, ending up not adding anything to the project.

Throughout "The Song Diaries", each song finds its "mood" intensified due to symphonic changes. Intricate synthesizers are reworked through numerous stringed instruments, as in "Mixed Up World". In other songs, basses and drums are properly positioned in place of a pop bursting with energy, as in "Catch You". Then, as would be expected, there is the classic "Murder on the Dancefloor", a success on its release in late 2001 due to its excellent transition between disco-pop of the past and the present. And, due to this success, the artist decided to make not only one but two versions of the track, one more disco, accompanied by castanets and percussion, bringing a Latin and airy touch, followed by the orquestral version, with a lighter rhythmic section, recalling the last two albums released before this project, with a more indie and laid-back style.

The range of the musicality in "The Song Diaries" is impressive which, after all, has happened with all the efforts of Sophie Ellis-Bextor after the release of "Read my Lips" (2001), and the album will create a greater impact on those who are willing to receive its charms. The project will find a home in the hearts of those who have enough discernment to leave aside the disco-pop style to be able to enjoy this new sound, of a woman who exercises her artistic vision without fear and always willing to embrace new styles and challenges.

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