Review: “Echo” by Leona Lewis (CD, 2009)

Today’s POP RESCUE from a fate unknown is the 2009 second album Echo by British singer, songwriter, actress and X-Factor winner, Leona Lewis. Will this album make you Happy, or will it repeat on you? Read on…

Leona Lewis - Echo (2009) album. — Leona Lewis – Echo (2009) album.

This 13 track CD opens with lead single Happy, which opens with a nice warm wave of synth followed by piano. Leona Lewis’ vocals sound pristine here in the introduction as the song leads towards the chorus. Suddenly the drums drop in and she belts out the chorus. At times, Leona reaches very closely to the highs of Mariah Carey. It’s a fantastic track and it really lets her show off her vocal power and control, and rightly took her to #2 in the UK singles chart.

That leads on to the album’s third and final single, I Got You. This arrives almost instantly after the preceding song, and with another warm swell. Here the format is a little similar – soft simple verse, and big vocal chorus. That aside, this song has a more intricate sound to it – opting for bleeping synths instead. It’s a nice enough catchy track. The single reached #14 in the UK.

Can’t Breathe follows that, and we’re given more bleeping synths, hard dramatic beats, and almost ethereal vocals that allow us to hear Leona’s big emphatic vocals. I’m a little worried that we’re heading into a formulaic album though… but there’s enough here in the wafting sound to keep this track sounding different.

Then it’s Brave, which starts off slowly with Leona’s soft and tender vocals flanked by strings, and the song builds wonderfully with a plethora of instruments – I’d tell you which ones but the album’s artwork prints the credits that even an ant would be reaching for a microscope. It sounds epic though and Leona’s ability to throw her vocals around is fantastic.

Outta My Head is next, and this takes a wonderful sharp turn towards 8-bit dance music via Lady Gaga – almost! It’s bouncy, catchy, and full of gurgling synths, stomping beats, and singalong sections. This really should have been a single with a ton of mixes. I could also easily imagine Rachel Stevens or Girls Aloud taking this track on.

Next up is what seems to be ballad territory – My Hands. Leona is set against a somewhat sombre keyboard, whilst she sings as if re-making the narrative-heavy Friday by Rebecca Black. Then, the predictable heartfelt dramatic chorus drops in. It’s a bit of a paint-by-numbers X-Factor song, but there’s no flaw to Leona’s delivery.

We’re then given a guitar-driven angst-sounding track Love Letter, and this seems to take us into a different direction. A beat and softer guitars join in, and we’re given a really nice warm and melodic catchy song that flows easily, and again I’m left wondering why this wasn’t a single.

That’s followed by Broken, which leads us back to the relatively familiar territory of big vocals, big beats, soaring strings that shadows an X-Factor winner. Still, Leona isn’t deterred, and puts in a perfect vocal performance alongside her backing vocalists. She might be ‘broken‘ but she certainly isn’t vocally.

Then we’re on to Naked, which opens with some gently strummed acoustic guitars. Leona is soon on the microphone and it feels a little like we’re into a Natalie Imbruglia track. However, the chorus gives us some growling energy from the guitars and hard snares that allows us to get some glimmers of the vocal powers. Some synths drop in and out to add another level to the sound, and they’re well placed without taking away the grunt of the harder song. It’s a really great track.

Stop Crying Your Heart Out is next, and this was the album’s second single – reaching #29. This is of course a cover of the Oasis hit from 2002. However, this is somewhat bland, and sucks the life out of the original. Instead, Leona gives it the maximum X-Factor euthanasia treatment. Just no.

Pianos lead us into Don’t Let Me Down and the layered beats and synths remind me of the sound of OneRepublic (more on them shortly), but it’s actually Justin Timberlake on writing credits and vocal production, and you can just pick him out in the mix. However, Leona’s vocals are almost too much in one key that her diction is a bit lost at times in the rapid fire of lyrics.

Morose pianos leads us in to Alive, and we’re swiftly treated to some close-up vocals from Leona. That soon finds the chorus, where she belts out the wave of vocals. The piano throws in a repeated riff intermittently throughout, but the song slowly evolves – adding bass and strings as it grows. This all helps to balance out against her big vocal performance.

The album closes with Lost Then Found with OneRepublic, and given the sound of this album with the big dramatic beats, against tinkling piano and Leona’s big vocals, it feels like a natural collaboration to have her and OneRepublic together. The contrast in vocals between Leona and Ryan Tedder works perfectly as they both put in a rich and powerful performance. This is a long track though, and inevitably it leads on to….

… the hidden track Stone Hearts And Hand Grenades at the 7m 5s mark. Leona is back and this time she’s sat beside a piano singing her heart out. It’s a soft heartfelt song, that slowly builds but the melody sounds really familiar to other songs at times, but I can’t quite put my finger on it. It’s a nice vocal-led song to close the album.

Leona Lewis’ lead single ‘Happy’.

Verdict

Over all, this album is a great showcase of a fantastic vocalist and big sounds, but sometimes lacks excitement.

I was a little apprehensive about listening to a Leona Lewis album, given her X-Factor pedigree, but actually what’s happened is that I’ve heard an incredibly delivered set of tracks – and her vocals are exceptionally powerful, dynamic, warm, and precise. Meanwhile, the tracks are slick, but sadly some are a bit too paint-by-numbers, which is symptomatic of these kind of artists.

The highlights here are Brave, Happy, and Outta My Head, alongside Stone Hearts And Hand Grenades. It’s just a shame that only one of these made it as a single. The lowest point is sadly second single – the Oasis murder – Stop Crying Your Heart Out, which whilst Leona’s vocals are flawless, the track just feels like a terrible mis-guided choice.

The X-Factor shadow remains, but there’s just enough here in this second album to show that she really can break the mould and find her own sound. Give it a spin!