Alison Moyet- Essex )1994) VBR

Alison Moyet- Essex

Year 1994

Tracks
1. Falling 3:38
2. And I Know 3:48
3. Whispering Your Name 3:26
4. Getting Into Something 4:15
5. So Am I 3:43
6. Satellite 4:15
7. Ode To Boy 2:52
8. Dorothy (Live) 3:26
9. Another Living Day 3:44
10. Boys Own 4:02
11. Take Of Me 3:59
12. Ode To Boy II 2:56
13. Whispering Your Name (7") 3:48

Clearly, Alison Moyet has never found laurels to be a comfortable resting place. Rather than xerox the formula that yielded the critically acclaimed "Hoodoo" - with its Grammy-nominated 'It Won't Be Long' - Moyet moved on to a sound that was infinitely more British. Tedious arguments with a label that tried to force her into a latter-day Streisand niche ensued and resulted in the re-recording of this album.
Having washed her hands of calculated commercialism (much to Sony's dismay), Moyet stuck firmly to her artistic guns. There would be no boyband fodder or over-wrought Celine Dionesque balladry. Some gritty guitar-based arrangements on "And I Know," "Ode To Boy," "Another Living Day" and "Boys Own" toughened her trademark melodic pop sensibilities. Elsewhere, touches of mellow funk warmed "Getting Into Something", playful rhythms drove the hugely catchy "So Am I" and swooning strings added drama to a poetic "Satellite." Lyrically, Alison was on top form, shredding a treacherous ex in "And I Know" before working her way towards "Boys Own", a smart j'accuse in the direction of a sexist, image-fixated music industry. But it wasn't all twisted bitterness. "Dorothy" is a gorgeous acoustic eulogy for a beloved grandmother that neatly sidesteps the mawkishness typical of such songs by lesser artists. Alison Moyet has a wicked sense of humour and while "So Am I" might upbraid a spineless lover, it does so with a wicked cackle ready to erupt. Overhauling Jules Shear's "Whispering Your Name," Alison enters fun central (and the UK top 20) with panache.
Alison Moyet is not an artist for luddites or the impatient. She doesn't repeat herself and she doesn't pander to the imperious whims of labels or elitists. Over the course of only five albums to date, she has produced a canon of work with remarkable scope. "Essex" marks a very definite point in her artistic trajectory. That it would take eight years for the next album - the glorious "Hometime" - to see the light of day is, on the one hand, a damning indictment of the music industry but, on the other, a statement of the clear-minded determination of an important artist.