Gabriella Cilmi - The Sting

  by Fiona Hutchings

published: 31 / 10 / 2013

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It is five years since Cilmi serenaded the world with her bittersweet love song 'Sweet About Me' and she is still only 21. 'The Sting' promises "a clear departure in both look and sound for the Australian-Italian singer-songwriter." Certainly the opening track 'Highway' has a much more mature sound, and showcases the rougher blues vocal style that we know Cilmi mixes in with the sweeter soul sound to such good effect. 'Symmetry' proves the point perfectly mixing soul and pounding drums. It would make an excellent single. If there is a sense of anger, reflection and forward momentum floating around her third album perhaps they were born from the process of making her second. Her follow-up to her smash hit debut was released in 2009. 'Ten' saw Cilmi pressurised in to adopting a more overtly sexual image and dance heavy sound. "It's the oldest story in the music business," she says. "I don't want to get bitter about it. I learned some lessons the hard way. I felt everything was taken out of my hands. I brainwashed myself into thinking everything was OK but you keep running into yourself when things aren't right.' In the last four years Cilmi has taken her time to regroup from the experience. She took the decision to change labels and leave the management she had been under since the age of 13, and channel the pain into embarking on "a musical voyage of discovery, writing and recording with members of her live band." The video of 'Sweeter in History' released as a teaser earlier this year featured her minus her trade mark mane of hair, the song and the image both signalling a new start. The haunting 'Don't Look Back' builds on this theme of not being able to change the past and 'Not Sorry' takes the fury of a broken heart and presents it in a very restrained manner, but 'Left With Someone Else' is positively venomous and wonderful as a result. The title track has a Latin feel and multi tracking gives the impression there is a vengeful choir of Cilmi's ready to decend on the arseholes of the world. 'Every Memory' is beautiful and soaring, 'I am Just a Girl' has the slightest shade of industrial flavoured electronica around the edges, 'Parallel Universe' is dreamy, and 'Kill Ourselves' closes the album with a slow waltz. Overall this is a very accomplished and confident album. The music is used sparingly and intelligently in order to allow Cilmi's vocals to shine through.

Track Listing:-

1 Highway
2 Symmetry
3 Sweeter In History
4 Don't Look Back
5 Not Sorry
6 Left With Someone Else
7 The Sting
8 Vicious Love
9 Every Memory
10 I Am Just a Girl
11 Parallel Universe
12 Kill Ourselves
13 Deep Water

Band Links:-

http://www.gabriellacilmi.com/
https://www.facebook.com/gabriellacilmiofficial
https://twitter.com/gabcilmi
http://www.songkick.com/artists/595394-gabriella-cilmi
http://gabriellacilmi.tumblr.com/
https://www.youtube.com/user/gabriellacilmi

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