Album: Make A Scene
Released: 13th June 2011
Sophie Ellis-Bextor is someone who i would consider one of pops finest secrets. Some of you may raise any eyebrow at this and say that the woman with 2 of the biggest hits of the last decade can hardly be a secret, but when it comes to the actual acknowledgement of Sophie and the music she puts out beyond songs about slaughtering a flop bitch at a disco, that's where i begin to consider her a well kept secret. After her second album 'Shoot from the Hip' failed to garner the attention, success and praise from the general public that it deserved, Sophie began to silently disappear off the radar and into pop-obscurity. Her third album 'Trip The Light Fantastic', while being widely considered a pop classic, never set the charts alight and its singles never charted very high if at all (the highest peak on the album was lead single 'Catch You', which charted at 8 then dropped) and to be blunt, Sophie Ellis-Bextor began to flop harder than Xtina during the good old days of the now infamous BIONIC Massacre.
4 years later and while Sophie's attempts at setting the charts on fire haven't really improved with time, but what about the music? Well, it goes without saying that i don't think Sophie will ever release an album that will ever top 'Trip The Light Fantastic', but does 'Make A Scene' come close? Lets just say if this were a Jerry Springer style ghetto hoe fight, 'Make A Scene' would have a tight gasp on 'Trip The Light Fantastic's wig, and would be tugging on that shit with the ferocity of David Hasselhoff trying to eat a cheeseburger off his kitchen floor.
While 'Trip...' and Sophie's earlier material always seemed to sway towards a more pop/disco sound, 'Make A Scene' consists of a collection of Electronic dance songs that feature a 'kitchen sink' style production. Interestingly enough, the busy nature to the songs does not swallow up Sophie's vocals and, in a sense, allow it to shine more clearly than before. The variety of producers on the album also works well together, and while the long list could easily make for one of the most muddled albums of all time, on 'Make a Scene' it all works, mainly due to the fact that unlike some modern day pop stars Sophie's powerful and instantly recognisable vocal is the most powerful 'instrument' on the album. This has always has been the case with Miss.E-B as her earlier work with her old band 'The Audience' shows quite clearly, making basic bitches around the world who couldn't carry a tune in a bucket more pressed than your finest Sunday shirt.
The songs themselves are on the same level as her last LP and are all fantastic in their own right, while some tracks show that over the last four years Sophie has actually managed to top herself quality wise, even if the glimpses of this accomplishment are few. These songs include 'Bittersweet' (the first single, and easily one of Sophie's best), the Roison Murphy penned 'Off & On', the Freemasons collaboration 'Heartbreak' and the current single, the crystalline production and lyrical poetry of 'Starlight', also one of Sophie's better singles. Despite the obvious single material there are countless other highlights on MaS which all add up to make one stellar album. These tracks include the hypnotic 'Magic', the Armin van Buuren assisted & perfect summer single 'Not Giving Up on Love', the Utterly crazy electronic ditty that is 'Dial my Number' about a phone stalker pathetic bids at wooing Miss. E-B and the flirtatious, robotic-esk lust song 'Under Your Touch'. The 'fuck-this-is-amazing' moment of the album (alongside next single 'Off & On', Heartbreak' and 'Dial my Number') is easily the subtly brilliant 'Synchronised'. The song is an haunting, slow burning ballad about feeling completely at one with your partner, the song works well because of its relatively simple production, the simple yet powerful lyrics and once again, Sophie's powerful voice is the cherry on top of the this cake with the slow tempo to the song allowing Bextor a perfect chance to flaunt those vocals. All that said, there are a few moment on the album that even Sophie's superb vocals cant lift out of the 'this-is-kinda-mediocre' level. 'Homewrecker' is a bit of a mess with no really hook to it and the same can sadly be said for the title track, which despite the busy production and layers of vocals features no real part that makes you want to put the track on repeat, or perhaps even listen to it again, much like the majority of a Ke$ha record. Before i continue, lets get something straight here. These two tracks are by no means bad and i am sure that some people will enjoy the quirky nature to them, but i personally find these songs to be the only 2 weak links on 'Make A Scene', they are passable and luckily don't bring the overall quality of an otherwise perfect pop record down in the slightest. Thankfully
All in all, Sophie Ellis-Bextor has successfully created one of (if not the best) pop album of the year. It is, without saying, effortlessly amazing and after around 2 years of delays, push-backs and other various issues its safe to say that Sophie has put her money where her mouth is (for want of a better term) and supplied her fans with the perfect album that she promised us long ago and while the album itself is likely to make a scene on the charts or shake the foundations of stan hierarchy as we know it, it is still one of the best albums of the year. A Must buy.
Best Bits: Synchronised & Heartbreak (Make Me a Dancer)
Shit Bits: Homewrecker & Make A Scene
Download: Synchronised, Off & On, Heartbreak, Starlight, Dial My Number
RATING: 5 out of 5
Listen to the current single 'Starlight' below. Out tomorrow, buy it on iTunes.
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