Ivy Quainoo
Wildfires

Young German interpreter and author of Ghanaian origin, Ivy Quainoo initially had not particularly captured my attention: discovered by me quite accidentally, through a duet between her and Florence Welch to the notes of "Shake It Out" at the finale of "The Voice of Germany," I immediately considered her to have a good voice, but at the same time decidedly not very incisive or noteworthy, also due to a debut album, the self-titled "Ivy," which cast her in the role of a rather conventional soul singer. Not a bad debut, it must also be said, but neither something memorable indeed. With "Wildfires," however, the girl tries to improve and deserves credit for succeeding: although this second effort is not a masterpiece, it allows her to emerge from the anonymity into which she seemed destined to sink, thanks to a much more personal and inspired sound than in the past.

Having definitively abandoned the chart-topping pop-soul of the previous album, Quainoo releases an album where strings and gentle hints of synthesizers and electronics intertwine moods and atmospheres, as well as some typical instruments of her homeland: the result is airy and expansive melodies that, although not standing out for originality, give the pieces an exotic flavor, whether they are ballads ("300 Years," "After All This Time") or more pop and radio-friendly songs (the title track "Wildfires (Light It Up)" and "Paint Your Love," to name a few) and moreover have the advantage of being supported by refined and fairly well-crafted arrangements. It must be said, however, that there are a few tracks a bit too blatantly chart-climbing ("Atomic") and some tracks that, though valid, stray a bit too far from the general atmosphere of the album, venturing into electronic territories, in some cases quite successfully ("Empty," "Burial"), in others decidedly less so ("Dancing Dynamite" above all).

Nothing that still prevents the album, at least in my opinion, from reaching an ample pass mark, also considering the fact that Quainoo, perhaps benefiting from the change in direction compared to her debut, proves to be a much more expressive performer than in the past and that, despite some missteps, as the first building block of her musical rebirth, "Wildfires" seems to chart a promising and interesting path and the girl will surely have the opportunity to fully express a musical potential that is still largely untapped.

Rating: 3.5