| DEMI LOVATO - new album 'UNBROKEN' review. |
| Written by Shahlin Graves | |||
| Monday, 19 September 2011 13:38 | |||
It's a well-known fact - if you subscribe to the same beliefs that I do - that nineteen-year-old DEMI LOVATO is the superior vocalist of all our generation's Disney Channel kids. In a year when her contemporaries have been busy recycling cookie-cutter blends of La Roux meets Pixie Lott, Lovato has naturally progressed from the guitar-pop of her 2009 sophomore effort 'Here We Go Again', to produce a perfectly balanced third album 'UNBROKEN' - that soundtracks everything from modern-day 'Grease' influences to the aftermath of abusive relationships from different perspectives. The fifteen-track album opens with the TIMBALAND-produced 'All Night Long', which sets the tone for Demi version 3.0 and is more akin to 'Can't Back Down' and 'It's On' from the 'Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam' soundtrack, than any of the girl-scorned attitude of 'Here We Go Again'. Lovato may have had a hellish time last year as her front-page relationship with Joe Jonas fell to pieces, but nowhere does it show on any of the confident and upbeat, collaboration-heavy first four tracks of 'Unbroken'. Demi proceeds to get her Nicki Minaj on in the Ryan Tedder written and produced 'Who's That Boy' featuring rapper DEV, then continues to coast through the Rock Mafia polished 'You're My Only Shorty' featuring IYAZ, which boasts the kind of catchiness usually reserved only for the very best duets in film-musicals. Think: a modern-take on 'We Go Together' and 'You're The One That I Want' from the 'Grease' film-soundtrack. Justin Bieber ought to be jealous, very jealous indeed. Surprisingly, track four 'Together' featuring JASON DERÜLO, isn't actually awful. Instead, it's Demi's 'Where Is The Love?', with the sing-a-long chorus re-familiarizing listeners with the traditional feel-good sentiments of tween-pop: "Why be afraid to make an honest mistake?" The predictability of the song chaffs wearisome after a while, but it's a well-meaning segue into the album's standout track 'Lightweight', which will jumpstart-resuscitate anyone who's been wondering why lead-single 'Skyscraper' doesn't feature on the first half of the tracklisting for 'Unbroken'.  As the album progresses, it becomes clear why Lovato chose to name her new album after track six 'Unbroken' when she sings: "I'm gonna love you like I've never been broken." Demi's new-found optimism echoes throughout every song on her new album, and it's a running theme that inspires all kinds of new appreciation for the popstar who not only played a schizophrenia patient on TV show 'Grey's Anatomy' last year, but in real-life was also diagnosed with bipolar disorder while being rehabilitated after suffering a nervous breakdown that was dragged through the headlines of gossip-rags the world over. Another personal favourite of mine 'Fix A Heart', is a grand sweeping gesture of a song that supersedes her debut album title-track's 'Don't Forget' with a vocal performance that is flawless from beginning to end. Your eyes are sure to well up as Demi sings: "I just ran out of bandaids / I don't even know where to start / 'Cause you can bandage the damage / You never really can fix a heart." 'Give Your Heart A Break' and 'In Real Life' are both buoyant pop-numbers that bookend the still-spectacular 'Skyscraper', while 'My Love Is Like A Star' charmingly channels Christina Aguilera circa her 1999 debut album. Ignoring the Wizz Dumb remix of 'Skyscraper' - I hate remixes - the album closes with the highly-anticipated 'For The Love Of A Daughter', which was originally intended for Lovato's 'Here We Go Again' album and co-written with The Academy Is... frontman WILLIAM BECKETT. Anyone who remembers 2006 will be instantly reminded of Lindsay Lohan's 'Confessions Of A Broken Heart (Daughter To Father)' - both songs are ballads penned by daughters to alcoholic fathers - but Lovato employs her superior vocal-talents in a blockbuster bridge that redeems even the "Oh father, please father" refrain of the chorus.  While Demi may appear to have taken steps backwards in terms of her songwriting contributions - Lovato co-wrote eleven songs on 'Here We Go Again' but is only credited on a mere five 'Unbroken' tracks - all is forgiven [and forgotten] in light of the spunk that shines through on songs that the Demi of old would have never dared to be so vocally flirtatious and self-assured on. However, 'Unbroken' is not all radio-friendly fixes - the first single 'Skyscraper' is indicative of a vocally-rich performance on the second half of the album, showcasing equal parts vulnerability and feist that even Demi's personal heroine Kelly Clarkson has never really achieved. Lovato is undoubtedly still finding her feet musically, but her youth so becomes her naive sentiments, that even the most wizened of listeners will be transported back to a fragile age of heart-on-your-sleeve earnestness. MUST-LISTEN: 'Lightweight', 'You're My Only Shorty', 'Fix A Heart', 'In Real Life'. HEARTOMETER: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 + 1/2 [ out of 10 ] YOU WILL LIKE, IF YOU LIKE: Christina Aguilera, Kelly Clarkson, Honor Society, Stacie Orrico, Nicki Minaj... and the sound of the best pop album that 2011 has to offer. BUY NOW: ITUNES / MARBECKS MUST-WATCH: Demi Lovato performing 'Lightweight' live for the very first time... |
