Leona Lewis - Echo Review

Posted by Daniel Wilcox on 11.18.2009

Can English pop diva Leona Lewis continue her worldwide success with album number two?



Leona Lewis - Echo
Review by Daniel Wilcox

1. Happy
2. I Got You
3. Can’t Breathe
4. Brave
5. Outta My Head
6. My Hands
7. Love Letter
8. Broken
9. Naked
10. Stop Crying Your Heart Out
11. Don’t Let Me Down [feat. Justin Timberlake]
12. Alive
13. Lost Then Found [feat. OneRepublic]

Unusually for an X Factor graduate, or indeed for any graduate of a manufactured TV talent show searching for the year’s “next big thing,” there is something at risk with the release of Leona Lewis’ second record. Undoubtedly she is the biggest musical talent to come out of the UK in years, making it big in America in a way that very few other British female artists have managed to do. And for that reason, avoiding the clichéd sophomore slump is essential, because Leona has undoubtedly been a success, it’ll be a far greater achievement if she is able to maintain that success both at home and abroad.

Of course, it is arguably hard to wrong with the talent of Lewis’ mezzo-soprano vocal and a team of songwriters who have written countless hits for some of the biggest names in the industry. Indeed, the songs are pretty safe, and it seems as though the writers are more than just content to throw Leona’s vocal all over a song, which considering what a vocal it is, is obviously a smart thing to do. Even smarter is ensuring the Lewis leaves her comfort zone on occasion; not vocally, but in terms of the type of song she’s singing. There are obviously the big, big ballads that show off her vocal talents to the fullest, but there also a lot more 80s disco-inspired upbeat numbers more typical of a R&B diva than a pop princess, but it shows that Leona has diversity and it just about manages to prevent Echo ever becoming boring or predictable. Clearly, and thankfully, the album’s title isn’t prophetic; no one wants or needs a retread of her fast-selling debut album Spirit, because although it was accomplished it was what was expected.

But while Leona has a pretty good vocal, I think that her humble beginnings and devoted followers have led people to believe that it’s better than it actually is, and the writers’ overreliance on said voice causes it to become exposed at times. Sure, she weaves in and out of pretty big notes almost effortlessly, and oft-used falsetto is near faultless, but more often than not Lewis comes across as a knock-off Mariah Carey with half the talent and even less of the sassiness that such a legendary diva possesses. Even when teaming up with Justin Timberlake, she struggles to manage or muster any sort of performance with an ounce of soul and sickly ballads like “Can’t Breathe” are technically fine and safe, but ultimately lifeless.

Most criminal of all however, is the overthought cover of Oasis’ “Stop Crying Your Heart Out.” This is an album awash with overproduced tracks with huge vocals flying all over the place and occasionally bumping into each other, and that just doesn’t work on a song like that, intended to be gritty and heartfelt rather than melodramatically blurted out.

Furthermore, despite writing a significant part of the record herself, this is very much the kind of thematic one would expect from a Simon Cowell protégé. Leona comes across the victim of a dozen broken hearts as you’d expect, yet she still manages to overcome all kinds of diversity and obstacles of varying threat. Her modest upbringing and values are lost though, in favour of this Hollywood-produced, sickly sweet record of heart ache and strife. Essentially, this is every pop record you’ve ever loathed before, with an above average vocal.

Essential downloads: “Happy,” “Outta My Head” and “Naked.”

The 411: People were writing and recording these kinds of songs long before Leona and undoubtedly people will be doing so long after he. But there are a significant number of people out there who do them better. Not many will have the voice that she does, but I think more important is the sassiness, sexiness and charisma with which an artist pulls off these songs, and there are a ton of sultry pop divas ahead of Leona in this aspect. There’s a reason why the likes of Lady Gaga, Katy Perry and Rihanna are the most talked about pop songstresses around today, and I can promise you it has nothing to do with their vocal ability. The reason this album fails isn’t because of the writing or the vocal, it’s because of the artist – Leona Lewis is boring.

Final Score:  6.0   [ Average ]