This intrepid music journalist has been weaker than usual over the past few months. Life has chugged along at a pace reminiscent of the reclaiming of the land by the oceans and, to cap it all off to a poetic conclusion, I was forced, by my own sense of growing irritation, to change the filing of a CD in Woolworths. The Queen of Jazz herself, Diana Krall, was placed in the same pile as Alica Keys. The Queen of Jazz mistaken for a woman who might, very soon, take the mantle of the Modern Queen of Soul. So, the question before us is as follows: Is Keisha White the British Alica Keys or simply yet another woman who realised that ballads sell well if you release them around the time of Valentine’s Day?
Keisha White is 17. Or “Only 17” as the music press loves to say when someone young proves themselves in the music industry. “The Weakness In Me” is a beautiful song and one Keisha White is worth a million X Factor winners. This is true, understated music filled with blissful commentaries on the complexities of relationships. Keisha White is the perfect antidote to the “sing in a high voice and watch me look cool” nonsense of James Blunt and his contemporaries. Pop is dead and the Indie music lobby are running amuck in the china shop. But as long as Keisha White is writing, singing and recording, there is hope for honest, tender music.
Rating: 5/5
Release Date: 27th Feb 2006
Record Label: Korova
Words By: Martin Drury
