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V.V. Brown is the most exciting British import since Amy Winehouse with the added bonus of no drugs and no beehive hairdo.
Brown’s debut album, Travelling Like the Light, is a mix of ‘60s soul, pop and R&B but updated for a generation 50 years later. This is what the Supremes (“Stop! In the Name of Love”) or the Ronettes (“Be My Baby”) would sound like in 2010, and wrapped up into one single woman.
Model-thin and Beyoncé-beautiful, Brown is the full package. She’s got the looks, the vocal stylings and the songwriting ability to break severeal catchy U.S. singles. Songs like “Game Over” and “Crying Blood” are primed and ready for success on U.S. radio and it is only a matter of time before you hear Brown’s songs playing in rotation alongside household names like Gaga, Christina or Britney.
Yet, unlike the Britneys or the Christinas, Brown is an album artist. Sure, “Shark in the Water” is the perfect sing-along single, with its epic chorus and thumping acoustic guitar that will fit perfectly on any summer playlist, but even it doesn’t do justice to representing a whole album full of potential hits.
The first track “Quick Fix” is the single that never was – because it is catchy enough to sell the whole album. Backed by a live drum and a happy-go-lucky guitar line that will have you dancing before you can say “Hey sweetie sweetie,” “Quick Fix” is just that – a spoonful of sugar.
“Back in Time” is the classic breakup song rehashed V.V. style, complete with drum rolls and a tambourine that will transport you back to 1966 as fast as a Mister Ed re-run, while “Travelling like the Light” shines as Brown’s most soul-bearing down-tempo moment.
Appropriately, “Everybody” has Brown questioning life in the 21st century over bouncing piano chords and straight-out-of-the-‘60s handclaps. Interspaced between her own repeated vocal sample, Brown sings: “Don’t you think it’s funny how we’re different but yet we’re all the same / Running from our similarities as if we’re on a speeding train.”
Lyrically, that’s as deep as Brown dares to go – which ain’t a bad thing – because, as a singer-songwriter vying for time in the pop music stratosphere, she only has three-plus minutes to deliver a catchy tune. And that she does, time and time again, knowing full well that if listeners have a sweet tooth, Brown can provide a quick fix. However, if listeners want pop-art with a punch, they should go googoo for Gaga instead.
