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After the disco diva Saturday night fever of Read My Lips, Sophie decided to move forward. The debut had gone more than well, the number of copies sold was climbing nicely, and her pretty face was being heralded as one of the most sophisticated and mischievous in the dance-biz. However, the dancing season of 2001-2002, a period when even her colleague and musical counterpart Kylie Minogue was dominating the floors with Fever and related excerpts, seemed immediately datable and exhaustible. And so it was, with the disco revival preparing to lower the curtain a little and leave the stage to the urban/R&B wave.
With the second studio work, Shoot From The Hip (2003), Mademoiselle EB, brought forward by the excellent reviews of Murder On The Dancefloor, Get Over You, and Take Me Home and now determined to definitively abandon the indie-rock aura of her early band (The Audience), turned a page, but not too much: a link between the carefree and frivolous dance of Read My Lips and the glitch-dance pop charm that exploded with the mythical Trip The Light Fantastic, Shoot From The Hip is a transitional album, a work that neither denies the recent brilliance of the debut nor replicates it crudely. Oscillating between dancing shoes and bursts of pop-rock with instrumental and classical hints, Sophie's acid test offers the listener a good curriculum of perfectly pop tracks, yet doesn't manage to reach the peaks of the previous singles. A change of direction not even that drastic, which unfortunately marks the first commercial decline of the artist, at least outside the British home lounges.
With the first single Mixed Up World, one breathes in a full breeze of the lively, sunny, danceable, and joyful spirit of Murder On The Dancefloor mixed with a funkier and "natural" mood than the predecessor, while a disturbing and robotic rhythm shapes the opening track Making Music. The disco-diva tale continues happily with the combination of strings and synth in Another Day, with the trip-hop hints of Love It Is Love, and with the mischievous and cheeky I Won't Dance With You.
Counterbalancing the classic Sophie is a good group of more rock-oriented tracks that add flavor to an otherwise predictable and repetitive tracklist. Noteworthy and enjoyable, therefore, are the romantic ballad-lullaby with a retro-soul aftertaste I Am Not Good At Not Getting What I Want and the Natalie Imbruglia-like pop-rock sweetness conveyed by Hello, Hello. Finally worth mentioning is the bizarre swing-electropop mix of The Walls Keep Saying Your Name and the strong dark disco-rock shades that are easily danceable in You Get Yours.
A transitional album, halfway between the flourishing debut and the extraordinary refined and sensual creativity increasingly less mainstream of recent years, Shoot From The Hip is probably the least appreciable and recognizable "Bextorian" thoroughbred album in the entire career of the beautiful Sophie. It is neither the Murder On The Dancefloor for the last-minute Bextorians nor the Catch You for the most devoted and cultured fans. We are nonetheless facing a good pop album, simple, not sloppy, perfect for delving into the discography of an artist who is emblematic of valid and curated commerciality, as well as a mainstream horizon never trashy or aberrant.
Sophie Ellis-Bextor, Shoot From The Hip
Making Music - Mixed Up World - I Won't Change You - Nowhere Without You - Another Day - Party In My Head - Love It Is Love - You Get Yours - The Walls Keep Saying Your Name - I Won't Dance With You - I
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
02 Mixed Up World (03:46)
I'm feeling all messed up
I have a voice inside my head it says turn to the left then it says turn to the right
Don't want to bring you down
But I am really needing guidance now
What would you do within my shoes
(don't cry) I'm going crazy
(stay high) I've never felt so low
(don't hide) I want to turn and run
we've got to find a place to go
so when you're feeling kind of mixed up
just remember it's a mixed up world
and when you're feeing life is just too tough
just remember you're a real tough girl
I look around my life
And all I see is contradiction and a lack of faith
Cynicism rules the day
I know it has it's place
But I am really needing guidance now
Reminding me I'm strong inside
(don't cry) I know you love me
(stay high) and we'll make it through this time
(don't hide) I want to feel the sun
we've got to start to take control
(why) do I feel this pain
(why) has this world gone insane
03 I Won't Change You (03:42)
I Won't Change You Lyrics
I used to change my accent, change my stance
My phone number, the way I dance
Some people change lovers like they change their sheets
But I won't change you honey, you're for keeps
I used to think I had to change the way I am
To feel better, to get a man
But once I stopped trying I fell for you
You fell for me so I'll stay the same for you
Oh yeah I know that I'm not perfect baby
Oh yeah it's no reason to go crazy
Oh yeah boy you can always count on me
For better or for worse I will always put you first
Now that I have found you
You've changed my life
Cos you're the one who showed me
I have everything right
We're never gonna differ cos we know it's true
So don't change me and I won't change you
I used to change my style like I changed my mind
I tried to change a tyre but I'm not that way inclined
Tried to change my figure my diet too
I'll still change my underwear if that's O.K with you
Oh yeah the world can sometimes make you feel bad
Oh yeah but don't forget the things you have
Oh yeah boy you can always count on me
In sickness and in health baby always be yourself
04 Nowhere Without You (04:54)
Another day break and we face the sun
You are everything to me
And I am overcome, I can taste it now
I know we have become single minded
And have I told you, how I want to breathe you in
You're so far beneath my skin, darling I'd be...
Nowhere without you
You're the only one I have ever loved
I'd be nowhere without you
You're the only one I can really trust
Let my loving surround you
You are safe inside, this is paradise
I'd be nowhere without you
And I want to be beside you always
Heaven help me, oh how I pray you stay
I would die without your love
And I am stunned today, so far fallen now
Another choice is made, I want you forever
I couldn't bear it if we had never felt the same
Could I have ever found my way
And have I told you, how I want to breathe you in
You're so far beneath my skin
08 You Get Yours (04:00)
You're selfish
Like me
It's why we get along
Famously
We're English
As well
So we're a
We're a
We're a little bit ashamed of ourselves
It's ok to be needy
Just not voraciously greedy
Let's make sure that we don't let it show
You get yours and I'll get mine
We'll justify our actions
Some other time
You're anxious
In dreams
cos you've come apart
At the seams
Revealing inside
What it was
What it was
What it was that you were trying to hide
I don't know how to be friendly
When you're consumed with envy
It never stops controlling how I feel
Tell me you love me and this time mean it
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