Review: “Leavin’” by Natalie Cole (CD, 2006)

Today’s Pop Rescue from a fate uncertain is the 2006 18th album Leavin’ by American singer Natalie Cole. Will this album Leave you speechless, or should you Leave it on the shelf? Read on…

Natalie Cole - Leavin' (2006) album — Natalie Cole – Leavin’ (2006) album

This 12 track CD bursts open with the Fiona Apple track Criminal, and Natalie’s vocals and harmonies are really bursting with energy here. She’s backed by a wonderfully slick track, packed with gentle beats, fret-work, and funky brass bursts – it sets us on to a great start so far.

That leads on to a cover of Neil Young’s Old Man, which gives us a different vocal style from Natalie, although retaining the richness and warmth we’ve heard already, here she’s flanked by acoustic and electric guitars, shuffling percussion, and piano, the latter making this track sound (‘old man, look at my life, i’m a lot like you’) whilst the piano plays, as if the song is musically and lyrically a song to her father Nat King Cole. Once more, Natalie shines brightly, and the end ‘oohs‘ sound wonderful as the piano tinkles off into the sunset.

The album’s sole single Day Dreaming is next, a cover of Aretha Franklin’s 1972 hit. Here, Natalie delivers this like a slightly hip-hop inspired song with some shuffling beats. The track swaggers perfectly, and this gives Natalie plenty of time to show off her vocal range.

Next it’s the titular Leavin’ and here we get to hear Natalie talking to us in a mixture of reassuring gospel sermon style song meets a wonderfully plodding cover of Shelby Lynne’s 1999 track. This slower pace once again allows us to hear the gaps, the build up, and gives Natalie some wonderful big notes, although the track just seems to end as if bored.

We’re promised a track ‘for the old school’, in the form of The More You Do It (The More I Like It Done) – a cover of the Ronnie Dyson track from 1976. It manages to keep some wonderful 70’s funk motifs throughout, as Natalie and The ‘N’ Sisters (backing vocalists here throughout the album) put in a wonderful show, punctuated by more brass bursts.

We’re into a wonderful acoustic cover of Lovin’ Arms written by Tom Jones, and here Natalie and The ‘N’ Sisters deliver a beautiful version packed with soaring vocals, set against simple guitars and warm vocal harmonies. This is fantastically flawless.

A cover of Bonnie Hayes’ Love Letter returns us to some phenomenally funky sounds, which Natalie delivers with seemingly great ease. This really is a catchy track. The bass and brass are back, as a simple beat leads them through the track where Natalie and The ‘N’ Sisters are waiting for them to arrive. It’s a great song.

Strings await us in The Man With The Child In His Eyes – a hearfelt cover of the 1978 Kate Bush track, although here Natalie’s delivery of this mid-tempo song makes her sound somewhat like Neneh Cherry. Once again, she gets some huge notes to deliver, and she makes it sound all so beautifully easy.

The first of two original tracks are up next – 5 Minutes Away and here we have Natalie on co-writer duties, alongside producer Dallas Austin and Marvin Chanz Parkman, whilst also sounding like it could easily have been an old forgotten song by The Jackson 5. This is a nice mid-tempo song, and Natalie is definitely singing this as if she’s beaming with a huge smile and confidence. She’s rightly owning this track, and the track flows effortlessly.

Don’t Say Goodnight (Ladies’ Version Slow Grind) is next, beginning with a sultry invitation from Natalie to come in for ‘coffee’. This is the second of the two original tracks here, and we’re sunk deep into a smooth late night R&B love song. Here, we get Natalie showing off a different vocal style and writing style too. It sounds personal, and the richness of the vocals, the gentle tap of the snare as Natalie tells you how she’ll ‘maybe undress you‘ gives us a new tender style from her. It’s a really nice sexy plodder, although it feels a little too long at a slow 5min 41s.

Next up is a cover of the Des’ree hit You Gotta Be, and to be honest, Natalie’s vocals don’t really add much to the original, and it feels very much like a complete walk in the park for her vocally. She’s flanked by some beautiful acoustic guitar, bass, and cajón drum. The delicateness of this track really works well, although the split directional sound in the mid-section harmonies is a bit distracting – The ‘N’ Sisters here would have worked better. Other than that, it’s a faithful cover and a very good one.

The album closes with If I Ever Lose My Faith In You – a cover of the Sting hit. Here though, whilst Natalie delivers the vocals with power and energy, and she’s joined by some wonderful backing vocals, the track just doesn’t really take us any further than Sting did.

Natalie Cole’s lead single ‘Day Dreaming’ (2006).

Verdict

Over all, this album is a great collection of (mostly) covers which Natalie delivers with expertly crafted and warm vocals.

The slick soulful production throughout really lends itself as a great companion to Natalie’s vocals here, proving that she can step beyond jazz songs with some covers in a more contemporary style. The middle of the album seems to hit the peak, with Lovin’ Arms, Love Letter, The Man With The Child In His Eyes, and original 5 Minutes Away sounding fantastic, alongside the Neil Young cover of Old Man, which takes on extra meaning if you know Natalie’s musical pedigree. Titular track Leavin’ feels like the weakest point here, and the closing Sting cover of If I Ever Lose My Faith In You just lacks some of the quality of the other tracks.

The album is a great turning point in her style, and proves that she could belt out some great tracks. The production with Dallas Austin gives us a slick collection of R&B-tinged tracks. Definitely worth a listen.