Amy Macdonald
A Curious Thing

"A Curious Thing" is the second album by the British singer-songwriter Amy Macdonald. Released in 2010—two years after the success of "This Is the Life"—it shows a maturation in sound and content. Indeed, having been assembled during the tour of the previous album, Macdonald had the opportunity to try and experiment with new rhythms, slightly distancing herself from the folk style that characterized "This Is the Life." 

The first track, also the first single, "Don't Tell Me That It's Over" revolves around the issue of global warming and man's dominance over nature, highlighting the singer's increased commitment to current events. The second track "Spark," inspired by a news story, talks about the tragic murder of a two-year-old child by two ten-year-olds, presenting it from the perspective of the dying child. Continuing through the album, we find "No Roots," a song about never giving up, regardless of the passage of time. The next piece, "Love Love," seems to bring the singer back to the themes of the first album and is indisputably one of the most Macdonald-style songs on the album. "An Ordinary Life" instead deals with the theme of success, how it came unsought but only for the love of music. Moving on, we find "Give It All Up," in which the singer warns against giving it all up for love. The following track is dedicated to an unknown friend(?) of the singer who died under unexplained circumstances, and it is titled "My Only One." With "This Pretty Face," Macdonald once again gives her opinion on the pretty girls often seen on television, who, however, will not last as they are passing fads, evoking with this theme "Footballer's Wife." In "Troubled Soul," the singer endeavors to comfort the "troubled souls," and in "Next Big Thing," she intensifies her criticism of British culture, this time taking aim at reality shows. "Your Time Will Come" is at the border between song and poetry and says it all in the title ("Your Time Will Come"). The closing piece, "What Happiness Means To Me," is special not so much for Macdonald's declaration of love to her partner, but more for the ghost track at the end: an acoustic cover of Bruce Springsteen's "Dancing In The Dark."

In conclusion, it is a good album, though the main moments are fundamentally composed of the five singles ("Don't Tell Me That It's Over," "Spark," "This Pretty Face," "Love Love," and "An Ordinary Life") while the other songs tend to blend together, more mature for sure, but less varied. Macdonald does not possess a remarkable vocal range, but she has a rhythm and a manner of sound delivery (just think of "This Is the Life") that are considerable.