Worth the money!

I didn't know that Minnie Driver had ventured into singing until I heard her sing on a morning TV show. The song was 'Beloved' and I was pleasantly surprised by both her sultry voice and deliverance as well as the melody of the tune. That was enough to get my interest, which lead me to finding out more about Ms Driver's career as a singer/songwriter.

I learnt that the song 'Beloved' was used to promote her second album 'Seastories'. I listened to free clips of the songs on the album and decided to purchase it. I wasn't disappointed. The album features 12 tracks all of which were written by Ms Driver. The strongest tracks on the album in terms of great lyrics, melody and deliverance are 'Beloved', 'Mockingbird' and 'Cold Dark River'. These songs stand out more in that 'Beloved', the second track on the album, both lyrically and vocally has a distinct vibe to it very reminiscent of early Beatles songs. The song is very ambient, sing-along with a good balance of Ms Driver's vocal ability and the instruments. 'Mockingbird' is the fifth track on the album, which continues with the same great marriage between Ms Driver's vocals and the melody. This song goes further than 'Beloved' in that Ms Driver's vocal range is more expressed and the melody takes on a more 'base' sound both of which give the song an edge.

The fourth track is 'Cold Dark River', which again suits Ms Driver's sultry voice very well. The song has a more mellow melody to it. In fact this song is more 'jazzy' of all featured in the album. It's quite easy to imagine this song played in a jazz club in the 60s. It has a timeless feel to it. The lyrics are easy enough to sing-along.

These three songs do sum up the overall vibe/sound of the album very nicely. All the songs in the album carry some aspects mentioned in these three songs to various degrees. The album has an overall relaxed, melodic, soft-rock to jazz, sing-along vibe to it. What makes this album special is the fact that the delivery of the songs combined with the easy melody and lyrics speak for themselves. In fact the listener almost forgets about the artist's persona of a well-known actress!

Ms Driver allows her vocal range to be more expressive in most songs but without sounding like she is trying too hard. Indeed there is a sense of artist maturity with this album in terms of the way Ms Driver's vocal range is carefully and naturally expressed in different songs. The listener is allowed to enjoy both her deliverance as well as the melody something which many failed actress-turned-singers could not master. This fact is indeed what sets Ms Driver aside from a mere wanna-be singer to a real artist.

This album is worth buying for anyone who enjoys lay back tunes with a pleasantly surprising twist. It will make a good album to listen to while driving, relaxing or just doing the dishes. It is also a good album to sing along to. The balance of artist vocal range, melody, lyrics make this album one that you will be likely to listen to over and over again.

Of course this album is not a 'classic' however it is a very promising package for this new artist.