All Angels - Fly Away [Album]

Decca

September 28, 2009, 11:50 AM

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Take four pretty young girls who can sing a bit, add a sprinkling of session musicians, start recording and you have All Angels. "Fly Away" is the third CD from these girls. The four girls in question are Charlotte Ritchie, Melanie Nakhla, Laura Wright, and Daisy Chute. They are all students at various Universities and Colleges and they embark on an Arena tour in November playing the likes of The O2 Arena, Manchester Evening News Arena, Birmingham NIA Arena and, er, Whitehaven Civic Hall! Still all aged twenty-one or under they have a pretty impressive list of performances already. However, I don't know how they can possibly fit a tour of this magnitude in the middle of the academic year, especially with all those essays to be in during the time they are away, I wonder if the get an extension for mitigating circumstances?

I was expecting similar material from them as All Saints, The Spice Girls, Girls Aloud and the like. On doing a little research, any misgivings I had, soon disappeared. It strikes me that these are four girls with sweet voices, who are good Christian, god fearing folk. They will record a couple more albums (they have a five album deal at the moment), then settle down, get married and have 2.4 children. In years to come they may well make a good living from music, or, they might just start turning up on shows where celebrities have to guess what their claim to fame was.

The album kicks of with 'I'll Fly Away', an Alison Krauss & Gillian Welch composition, this is a "duet" with The Harlem Gospel Choir. They are backed by a pianist, bass and orchestral percussion. Vocal harmonies float from the speakers, It's not going to change the world, but its pleasant enough. I'm not a fan of Bob Dylan as a performer, but he has written some cracking songs. One such song is the second track 'Blowin' In The Wind'. The girls sing it sweetly enough, but this is a protest song and All Angels don't strike me as a bunch that would protest over much really. I must go and listen to the version by Neil Young on "Weld", there is a bit of bite in that version. 'Simple Gifts' previously released by Judy Collins and Nana Mouskouri, has a hymn feel to it, it sounds like the tune is 'Lord Of The Dance'. 'Come Away With Me' follows and this is a really good song and is beautifully sung.

'Send In The Clowns' written by Stephen Sondheim, and once recorded by Judy Collins is another timeless classic, again well sung with orchestral backing. My initial thoughts about this album are receding quickly by now, and that's coming from someone more into Led Zeppelin, Queen, Iron Maiden and Black Sabbath rather than girl bands. I don't know what 'Cucurrucucu Paloma' is about as it's a foreign language to me, could be Spanish, could be Italian, I really don't know. But giving one of the girls is studying French and Spanish at University, I would be inclined to go for Spanish.

So far all the songs have been quite old, 'All Love Can Be', however may be a bit more recent, recorded by Charlotte Church, there is wonderful orchestral music backing the fantastic melodic harmonies the girls are floating out. 'I Dream Of Jeannie With The Light Brown Hair' is a song written over 150 years ago by American composer Stephen Foster. Simple Piano accompanies the girls who deliver the song faultlessly. 'Deep River' is another traditional folk song, again the accompaniment is kept simple. The vocal harmonies are lovely and there is a hint of some vocal power in one of the girls voices. Track 10 turns to a couple of George Gershwin songs 'I Love You Porgy' and this runs into 'Summertime'. As with all the previous tracks, this one doesn't disappoint at all. Moving on the next track is from "West Side Story" the song is 'Somewhere'.

This album is a collection of cover songs, which have been carefully selected to reflect both the tonal qualities and abilities of these four girls vocal chords. It is very easy to listen to, pleasing on the ear even. It hasn't made me want to rush out and buy the previous two releases, nor has it made me want to get tickets to one of their arena gigs though. It is more something that you might not switch over if it was on.

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