Siobhán Donaghy - Ghosts

It can be a dangerous thing when a musician, in the process of promoting her latest album, name drops artists she feels have been influential to her sound. More often than not, these kinds of comments serve no other purpose than to remind her audience that the music she makes isn’t nearly as good as the music she listens to. So when Siobhán Donaghy, formerly of girl group The Sugababes, claimed that her second solo album, Ghosts, was heavily influenced by idols Kate Bush and Liz Fraser-fronted trio Cocteau Twins, red flags were raised, alarms were sounded, faces were seen twisted into outraged grimaces. It turns out, however, that Donaghy comes respectably close to the sound she claims to admire without—and this is important—totally ripping it off. All throughout the album, from the opening song and first single “Don’t Give It Up” to “Halcyon Days,” the influences are present in Donaghy’s voice; breathy but powerful, quiet but soaring. The album’s closer, the track from which Ghosts takes its name, is by far the most fantastic piece of music to be found here. It blends the indecipherable lyricism (some portions of the lyrics are even played backwards) of Cocteau Twins with the swirling high-note vocals of Kate Bush in a truly chilling, atmospheric moment of aural pleasure. Underneath all of the ethereal hooting and cooing is an unmistakable pop sensibility that at once betrays the complexities of this quirky, experimental pop-ish genre and makes once difficult music beautifully accessible. More often than not, Donaghy favors a radio-ready melody over experimentation and easy rhymes over true poetry (“And I know/ although I am alone/ I am at home/ here with my selfish pain” from the uber-catchy “Coming Up for Air”), but this does not hurt the music; instead, it melds the insanely wonderful sing-along of mainstream pop with the beautiful, beloved voice of the experimental pop genre. Combining the stylish beauty of her idols with a smart ear for wonderful hooks (just try, I dare you, not to get the chorus to “Medevac” stuck in your head), Donaghy succeeds in paying tribute to music of the past while making something that sounds refreshingly fresh. [www.siobhandonaghy.co.uk]