Surprise, surprise. I adore the entire VV Brown album, Travelling Like The Light. I knew that I would. There are a couple of strong contenders for follow up singles to “Shark In The Water,” but before I get into that I wanted to discuss one of my pleasant surprises…and that is the STRONG retro-influence on the album!
When I first saw photos of VV Brown, I loved the whole vintage/retro vibe she had going on. Why was this vintage throw-back sound missing in her music? Don’t get me wrong…I loved “Crying Blood,” “Leave!” and of course, “Shark In The Water,” but there wasn’t much old soul coming out musically. While I wasn’t expecting a “new Amy Winehouse” (come on now…how many artists can we peg as the “new Amy Winehouse”?) I was kind of expecting more of an obvious influence from jazz greats like Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughan. Well, upon listening to the album…rest assured…that old school vibe I was expecting is very much present. Perhaps I was judging a book by it’s cover…VV looks the part of a 50s gum-chomping, soda-fountain-frequenting girl, but with an edgy soul-tinged rock voice to boot. Who knew! There’s a lot of soul in there and it definitely makes more than one appearance throughout the album.
Tracks like “Crazy Amazing,” “Travelling Like The Light,” “Game Over,” “I Love You,” “L.O.V.E.” and “Quick Fix” all are saturated with old school soul, mixed with some rock & roll. That’s almost the entire album, with the exception of the 3 released singles. Even in re-listening to the singles (especially “Crying Blood”), there’s an oldie-but-a-goodie vibe going on. It’s almost like I expected one thing and was listening so hard for it that I missed it completely. I’m wondering in fact, if the singles were chosen by the label because they were the LEAST retro-sounding? Who knows. I’m just ready for this lady to do a U.S. club tour! Come on Island/Universal! Send her across the pond!
