KT Tunstall
Drastic Fantastic

THE REVIEW

The international success of Miss KT Tunstall is thought-provoking.

Few British artists have received such recognition at their debut, while she, with just one album, the moderate (and nothing more) "Eye To The Telescope," made a big splash; six singles released, top ten in various countries (including Italy), more than four million copies sold in total (over a million in the U.S.A. - !!! -, a country traditionally distrustful of UK-made musicians due to vastly different musical cultures and trends).

The new album, titled "Drastic Fantastic," arrives just a year after the previous "KT Tunstall's Acoustic Extravaganza," and confirms Steve Osborne in the role of producer, as in the singer's two previous works. The "multicultural" singer (Chinese mother, Irish father).

Very often compared to Dido ("Dido? No!!! But she has a horrible voice!?" she exclaimed during an interview, only to retract later), it must be said that the influences and musical style are quite different from the "Life For Rent" singer-songwriter. KT, in fact, had made an impact at her debut mainly for a vague and intriguing folk attitude, which, alas, is almost completely lost in the new album. "Hold On," the lead single, throws dust in the eyes in this sense; the frenetic rhythm of the guitars and percussion is the usual of the "black horse and the cherry tree" (?), but it certainly does not fully represent the sounds of "Drastic Fantastic."

The music moves exclusively on rather bland and repetitive pop rock territories: listening to the first tracks of the album, "Little Favours" and "If Only," more than Dido, the "poppy" The Cranberries of the "Bury The Hatchet" era come to mind, or at least the latest solo O'Riordan. In "If Only" the inspiration is evident even on a vocal level. It goes better (and with more personality) with "White Bird," which shows good melodic sense and reasonable emotional depth. "Funnyman," on the other hand, is heavily (or rather, too much) influenced by Travis, a band with which Tunstall recently collaborated on the track "Under The Moonlight" (her resume also includes collaborations with Oi Va Voi and Annie Lennox). "Hopeless" is pure 90's britpop, and for the rest of the album, there is little to do; the waters do not stir, something decent can be heard in "Saving My Face" (probably the second release), but not much. Furthermore, KT focuses the slower and duller tracks towards the end of the album, barely saving herself with the somewhat engaging "Beauty Of Uncertainty."

It's a pity because, for some still unclear reason, Tunstall gives an impression of being an artist endowed with good yet unexpressed potential. Thus, she ends up being just one of the many bland ingredients in the pop stew of this early millennium.