Karima Francis - The Author

Album Review by Heather Crumley | 11 Mar 2009
Album title: The Author
Artist: Karima Francis
Label: Kitchenware
Release date: 23 Mar

Karima Francis claims that she isn't just another artist touting folk-tinged whimsy, which would be admirable if she hadn’t plumped for MOR guitar slush instead. The two opening tracks, The Author and Again, are catchy slices of jangly guitar pop propelled by Francis’ exceptionally powerful, soulful voice. But rather than serving as an introduction to a great album, they prove to be the best of a disturbingly saccharine collection. Francis, a hymn to her family home, is almost comically unmoving: the words ‘my God, it’s dangerous’ have rarely sounded less threatening than when sung over tidal waves of major strings. Hold You, however, is the worst offender, with lines like ‘your waist is amazing to me’ reminiscent of The Corrs at their soppiest. Francis’ vocals don’t do half measures, and an album’s worth proves too much. The Author is overwrought, overlong and overwhelmingly unnecessary. That folk-tinged whimsy doesn’t sound so bad now, does it? [Heather Crumley]

 

Karima Francis plays Cabaret Voltaire, Edinburgh on 24 Mar.

http://www.myspace.com/karimafrancis