Gregory Darling - Stew Americano

  by Malcolm Carter

published: 26 / 3 / 2010

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Review

Can you have too much of a good thing? I actually asked that same question when reviewing Gregory Darling’s debut album, ‘Shell’ a couple of years ago. Unfortunately this time the answer is yes, you can. When we reviewed Darling’s previous albums and singles we were more than impressed with the man’s obvious talent to write unforgettable melodies and with his musical ability. Darling has won support from Jonathan Ross and Radio 2 and it all felt well-deserved. The problem here is that now we know what the man is capable of there are no surprises anymore. This album is really ‘Shell’ part 2. There is no real progression from his debut album and while that in itself doesn’t detract from the fact that Darling still writes extremely good pop songs sadly this really is a case of heard it all before. In many ways the album is just too perfect. It’s just too damn nice and the it also lacks passion and soul. Darling has an immense talent for writing melodic songs that, as we have mentioned before, recall the sound of the seventies in places and can be labelled without any hesitation as adult pop music. There’s plenty of substance in his work and the amount of time Darling and his gang must have spent in putting together this collection of songs shows through as they are all polished to perfection. There’s not a wrong note, not a sound out of place and while that’s certainly no bad thing when it comes to vocals it’s necessary to show some emotion at times to make it real. Unfortunately it’s his vocals that let these songs down. Darling is an accomplished singer, of that there is no doubt, but he just doesn’t do his own songs justice here because his vocals are lacking in passion. Again there is nothing wrong with Darling’s vocals, but they are also just too nice to draw the listener into his lyrics and fail to give the impression that Darling actually means what he is singing. There is absolutely nothing wrong in making a polished album, one where the music flows effortlessly and is perfect, especially when the melodies are as strong as those that Darling always comes up with. But when the vocals are so smooth all you want is to hear is the singer to kick some ass occasionally. I want to hear a little soul, give it some emotion Darling! If we think of Darling’s contemporaries like Jamie Cullum and Michael Buble then if you like their music or not it has to be said that both artists sound like they give it their all ; you can actually believe what they sing. The problem on this album is that as good as Darling’s vocals are they are just unconvincing. It’s almost as if he is reading the lyrics off a sheet with no interest in what he is singing about. The other problem is that Darling had tried to mix too many flavours into his ‘Stew Americano’ and while it’s to be admired that he is at least trying by flitting from style to style, to keep things interesting the end result just isn’t satisfying. Mixing jazz and musical-type songs in the same casserole just isn’t working here despite excellent playing and production, if the main ingredient, which is Darling’s vocals, is missing that all important spice the whole dish falls flat. ‘Somebody Kill The DJ’ is a good example of where Darling’s vocals let him down. A catchy melody, played extremely well is spoiled by Darling’s lacklustre vocals. Listen to Morrissey singing “Kill the DJ” and compare it to Darling singing “Somebody kill the DJ, for he know not what he play” ; Darling is trying, we can hear that, to inject some feeling into the words but he can’t pull it off. This album is destined to be played in the background at dinner parties which I’m sure Darling didn’t intend its fate to be and with songs and playing of this quality the album deserves more than that. Although, as I said earlier, Darling is a good singer I also feel that if his vocals were wiped off these songs to leave just the instrumental tracks then I, for one, would like ‘Stew Americano’ so much more. Maybe it’s time for Darling to try to inject a little soul and passion into his vocals or pass his songs on to other singers who would maybe feel the lyrics, which are at times exceptionable, so the listener would believe them. After that brilliant debut album I wondered if Darling could better it, although the music and lyrics on ‘Stew Americano’ are pretty near faultless if he doesn’t add a little more flavour and kick to his next dish he will just be one of an ever increasing number of artists who are turning out decent middle of the road adult pop with no feeling.

Track Listing:-

1 Kiss the Pain
2 Life's Gotta Funny Way
3 Where Were You Last Night
4 Out Of Time
5 Am I Losing You
6 Somebody Kill The DJ
7 Suicidal Acrobats
8 Warm Blooded Killer
9 Mad Twist of Fate
10 Hard Way Back
11 They Come Together