KT Tunstall - Drastic Fantastic Review
Posted by Mitch Michaels on 09.18.2007
Scotland’s favorite singer/songwriter returns as a pop star, but will she remain true to her roots?
My Story
I’ve professed my love time and again for the female singer/songwriter genre. Women like Sheryl Crow, Sarah McLachlan and even the less successful girls like Beth Hart and Natalie Imbruglia…I just can’t get enough of that female perspective. Sadly, the genre seems to be in more and more danger with each passing year. Jewel went pop. That Natasha Bedingfield chick is overplayed and under-hot. Hell, even Nelly Furtado teased us as a real female singer/songwriter before unleashing Loose on the world last year.
So KT Tunstall debuts on the scene during uncertain times, but you can’t deny that her first record was grounded in folk and rock tradition. With her second album, will KT remain on course, or will she be seduced by the pop side?
Her Story
Kate “KT” Tunstall was born in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1975, and raised by adopted parents in golfing capital St. Andrews. Before her senior year of high school, KT packed up and moved to the US, where she attended the Kent School in Connecticut. She then spent her college years at Royal Holloway College in London. You could call young KT well traveled.
Following school, Tunstall began to get involved more with the music scene. She spent much of the late 90’s and early 2000’s touring with different bands, including Jewish music act Oi Va Voi, whom she helped record their first album. In 2004. Tunstall put out her first album, Eye To The Telescope, on Relentless Records. The set of pop/folk originals made few waves initially, but that would soon change.
In early 2005, Tunstall made her first national television appearance in the UK on popular night talk show “Later with Jools Holland”. She was invited to play the night before after rapper Nas cancelled a scheduled appearance. Tunstall played her new single, “Black Horse And The Cherry Tree”, and the performance became very popular with the “Later” audience. It was then that things really took off for Tunstall. Telescope began to shoot up the UK charts and, in July, was nominated for the prestigious Mercury Music Prize.
By the time Telescope finished its run, it had reached #3 on the UK charts ad produced four Top 40 singles, including the #12 hit “Suddenly I See”. The record was released in the United States in February of 2006, over a year after it first hit UK shelves. Though Tunstall had gained some notoriety in the UK, she was still an unknown commodity in the US. Another fortunate television performance would change that.
In the spring of 2006, “American Idol” contestant Katherine McPhee contacted Tunstall about licensing “Black Horse & The Cherry Tree” for use on the show. Tunstall, who had made several public statements about her negative feelings towards shows like “Idol”, decided to allow McPhee to sing her song anyway. In Tunstall’s own words, “The major problem I have [with “American Idolo” is that it's completely controlled... they're told what to say. They're told how to sing…no one on that show told Katharine McPhee to sing my song because no one fucking knew it". The week after McPhee sang “Black Horse” on A.I. the song was a Top 40 hit on the US charts.
“Suddenly I See” also became a big hit on the US charts (#21), so in October of 2006, Tunstall released KT Tunstall’s Acoustic Extravaganza, an album previously only available on KT’s website. In 2007, “Black Horse And The Cherry Tree” was nominated for the “Best Female Pop Performance” Grammy. By then, Eye To The Telescope had moved over a million units in the United States.
On September 3rd, Tunstall released her second album in Scotland. It followed a week later in the UK and then another week later in the US. A lengthy tour is scheduled in support. The first single, “Hold On”, reached #21 on the UK charts.
The Album
On September 18, 2007, Relentless and Virgin Records released Drastic Fantastic, the second album by KT Tunstall and the follow-up to 2006’s Eye To The Telescope. The iTunes digital version of the album includes the bonus track “Suddenly I See (Live)” and a video of Tunstall’s “Today Show” appearance where she performed “Hold On”. The UK iTunes version also includes the bonus tracks “Bad Day” and “Mothgirl”. The CD version unlocks exclusive we content, including a video blog, pictures and music videos.
Let me start off on a tangent here. There is a time and place for certain music. Nick Cave is no good in the summer months. The Beach Boys should not be playing when there’s snow on the ground. A picnic is no time for metal. In this day and age, where the first week of release is when most people buy their music, an album is inevitably linked with the time of year that it’s released. As the days get cooler and the leaves start to change and you start to wonder if you need to break into the closet and grab your jacket, Drastic Fantastic is a perfect album.
KT Tunstall has evolved a bit since her first album, which, though we only got to know it last year, was recorded over three years before. Yes, if you enjoyed her gentle folk rock stylings on Eye To The Telescope, you will love the material here. But she’s also rocked things up a bit, and taken the time to really build and elaborate on these acoustic tracks. And that’s why I say it’s perfect for the beginning of fall. There are rock songs here that keep it upbeat, with jangly guitars, sing-along harmonies and a shuffle beat, but there are also wistful moments of acoustic longing, accentuated by orchestration (or glockenspiel) that takes these fallen leaves off the ground and into the breeze, turning them from something merely eye-catching to something kinetic. Something breathing.
Tunstall’s voice is the perfect blend of vocal ability and rock edge. It’s a line she dances here with her music and she does it well. Unlike many contemporary folk album, you just are not going to get bored with the music here.
The Songs: 8.0
1. Little Favours
2. If Only
3. White Bird
4. Funnyman
5. Hold On
6. Hopeless
7. I Don’t Want You Now
8. Saving My Face
9. Beauty Of Uncertainty
10. Someday Soon
11. Paper Aeroplane
On “If Only”, KT Tunstall sings “If only you could see me now/If only you could hear me now”. The irony is that more people are hearing her sing these words than possibly any other time in her life. Make no mistake about it, KT Tunstall has moved from folk singer/songwriter to pop/rock star. But she’s done so on her terms. The production on Drastic Fantastic is slicker, but the meat is still there and the songwriting is kicked up a notch. While there’s nothing with the simply appeal of “Black Horse”, there’s plenty for everyone to enjoy.
“Little Favours” is a great opener, kicking off with rock attitude and pop harmonies, a thread that keeps popping up on cuts like the hit single “Hold On” and the driving “I Don’t Want You Now”. But there’s also an air of yearning and nostalgia on this album, and cuts like the humorous “Hopeless” and the dark “Funnyman” (which deals with a real life friend’s mental illness) are some of the most smartly written tunes to convey that here.
The album wraps up with some gorgeous acoustic ballads that rise and fall like the breeze. “Someday Soon” is probably the best of this trio, but all are worth giving a listen. Not all of the songs are gems here, (“White Bird” is boring and misplaced, “”Saving My Face” feels like filler), but Drastic Fantastic is a well constructed album that fulfills the promise of Eye To The Telescope and hints at even more to come.
The 411: KT Tunstall may have grated on your nerves the ten or fifteen thousandth time you heard “Black Horse & The Cherry Tree” on the radio, but you could never deny that the song was a good one. On her second album, Tunstall takes the folk/pop attitude and expands on it. There are rock moments, folk-y moments, funny moments and wistful moments, with plenty of songs you’ll be wanting to hear again and again thanks to the layered, nuanced production and appealing vocals. This is the perfect album to kick off the fall season.
