The Info:
Leona Lewis’ debut album “Spirit” was released this month in the U.S. Lewis was first introduced to the music scene in 2006 when she appeared on “XFactor” (Britain’s version of “American Idol”) and later went on to win the competition in December of 2006.
Lewis’ first single, “A Moment Like This,” debuted in the U.K. on Dec. 6, 2006 and did remarkably well, breaking a world record after being downloaded 50,000 times in 30 minutes. “X-Factor” and “American Idol” judge Simon Cowell raved to producer Clive Davis saying to him, “You might have the next Whitney Houston on your hands.”
Lewis signed a contract with Clive Davis’ J Records in February of 2007 and began writing her new CD with the help of many notable songwriters and producers, including Clive Davis, Simon Cowell, OneRepublic’s Ryan Tedder, Akon, Ne-Yo, Jesse McCartney and J.R. Rotem.
Though Lewis has an amazing set of pipes and an all-star crew of people working behind her on her debut album, “Spirit” is simply mediocre.
The Good:
As a newcomer to the music biz, Lewis blows many out of the water. The album opens with “Bleeding Love,” her first single released in the U.S. “Bleeding Love” is a catchy introduction to the album with a good
beat and melody.
Lewis’s best asset, by far, is her extraordinary voice, one that you would not expect from a young artist. The highlights of the album are the tracks that showcase her raw talent, with no thumping back beats or cheesy synthesizer melodies. One such song is “Footprints in the Sand,” a bonus track that beautifully showcases Lewis’ voice.
With touching lyrics and the incorporation of a gospel choir, it left me wishing for more songs like it.
The best track by far is “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face,” a remake of the classic Roberta Flack song. It would be easy for a newcomer such as Lewis to completely butcher the remake of a classic, but Lewis manages to create a beautiful and poignant reproduction of the song that Flack herself would be impressed by.
The Bad:
Though “Spirit” includes many beautiful tracks, it falls short in other ways. In many of the songs, forgettable lyrics and all too familiar back beats overshadow Lewis’ stunning voice. Many of her songs simply fall below the radar.
In “Forgive Me,” Lewis begs her significant other to forgive her because she’s “gotta take a chance tonight / so I’m gonna be myself and I can’t wait no more.” It’s disappointing that someone with so much talent, like Lewis, makes her debut including tracks with such shallow, forgettable lyrics like these.
The album carries on with a string of other painfully unmemorable tracks, including “Angel,” “Yesterday” and “Whatever it Takes” that all run together and sound like every other pop song on the radio.
The Rest:
For her debut album, “Spirit” is not a complete flop. But it is apparent that Lewis is still searching for her musical niche.
Due to her instant stardom from her win on “X-Factor,” Lewis has been thrust into the music world. Lewis is a newcomer and therefore may not know exactly what she wants to be. It is obvious that what she needs is time to learn where she fits in the music world and time to develop her own identity as an artist.
The album lacks coherence, flip flopping from style to style, such as hip hop, cheesy love ballads reminiscent of Boyz II Men and somewhere in between. With a few more years under her belt, Lewis is sure to be someone to look out for.