Shaznay Lewis - Pages

  by Zena Grieg

published: 19 / 12 / 2024

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REVIEW OF ‘PAGES’ BY SHAZNAY LEWIS – A RESOUNDING COMEBACK Driving force behind the 90s girl band All Saints, Islington-born, Ivor Novello Award-winning singer-songwriter Shaznay Lewis has brought out a new album, a much-awaited follow-up to her 2004 lauded solo album ‘Open’. ‘Pages’, on which Lewis is the main songwriter, is a diverse, vibrant mix of pop and contemporary R&B, informed by Lewis’s own life: “I pull on past experiences, past feelings, which is how the drama is written…At the same time I was visualizing and experiencing a lot of things throughout making the record, life gives you plenty to draw on”. This colourful twelve-track collection includes: the catchy opener ‘Missiles’ with its insinuating drumbeat; affirming ‘Pick You Up’ with its spoken-word monologue by Rebecca Lucy Taylor (aka Self Esteem) and uplifting lyrics: “Fear lies in the darkness, so give it up/Hope thrives among bright skies, here it comes/… I will pick you up and lift you higher/Enough so you enjoy the view”; experimental, synth-laden single ‘Kiss Of Life’, written about Lewis’s children; an energetic, upbeat collaboration with soul singer Shola Ama and reggae star General Levy on ‘Good Mourning’; R&B-inspired ‘Supposed To Be’ with its innovative sound mix; the infectious ‘Got To Let Go’ with its layered vocals; disco track ‘Tears To The Floor’ with its pulsating beats; the powerful, soul-infused ‘Bruises’ with its excoriating and ultimately cathartic introspection; the haunting ‘Peaches’ on slavery in America, inspired by the horrific Devil’s Punchbowl massacre of 1865 in Natchez, Mississippi; ‘Awake(Motu)’, a socio-political mirror on civil rights: “Watch as the world is on fire/Still held up in chains and barbed wire/…Is this what you wanna see/Is this how you wanna be?”; the lush lead single ‘Miracle’; and the raunchy pop closer ‘Hearts In Danger’: “Your lips all over me/Setting my body on fire”. An eclectic album, showcasing Lewis’s expressive vocals, keen observational songwriting and inventiveness, ‘Pages’ is a welcome return for this charismatic artist.

Track Listing:-

1 Missiles
2 Pick You Up
3 Kiss Of Life
4 Good Mourning
5 Supposed To Be
6 Got To Let Go
7 Tears To The Floor
8 Bruises
9 Peaches
10 Awake (Motu)
11 Miracle
12 Hearts In Danger

Have a Listen:-

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