THE PULP: Amy Winehouse "Back to Black" LP review

Submitted for the Feb 19th issue;

There is something immediately appealing about Amy Winehouse. I first heard her featured on Ghostface Killah’s version of “You know I’m no Good,” and was caught by her unique jazzy-pop sound. After listening to her debut album Frank, I realized not only can she sing, she can write, and she actually has something to say. As if that were not enough, she also has mass appeal – for the obsessive music lover always hoping the mainstream won’t continue its downhill march into a total dystopia, Amy Winehouse is a dream come true.

Obviously, I was fairly surprised when I learned that Amy has relegated much of that debut album to a pushy record label. The material on Frank was blunt, different, and refreshing. However, a listen to her sophomore album Back to Black makes it clear that Frank may have in fact been a record label’s conception of what a contemporary pop-jazz artist should sound like.

Winehouse decided to take things into her own hands for this album, dropping the jazz persona for a 60’s era girl-group sound, hence the Supremes-esque lead single “Rehab.” In accordance with the simplicity of the genre, Back to Black features a stripped down Winehouse. While the richness of her voice remains, the professionalism is somewhat gone – any complex production found on Frank is missing here, which makes for a less formulaic album. Most of the tracks on the album feature a defiant sounding Winehouse, even when she is lamenting lost love, such as on “Back to Black,” a piano thumping story of a man she was seeing going back to his girlfriend, while she returns to her destructive habits. Only on two occasions does Winehouse allow for some vulnerability; on “Love is a Losing Game” and “Wake Up Alone.” Both of these songs are genuinely depressing, and this is the beauty and magic of Winehouse – her sincerity always comes across.

In the end, of course, it’s not her voice, lyrics, or balls alone that makes Amy Winehouse different from the rest, it’s the combination of all three. I’d be surprised to hear songstress Corrine Bailey Ray sing a song about leaving rehab for her alcohol addiction, and I might pay money to see ever-gutsy Lilly Allen attempt to sing “Love is a Losing Game.” Recently reaching number one on the UK charts, Back to Black exemplifies everything that makes Winehouse stand out and stand apart from the rest -- how many other female artists in the number one spot would proudly sing a line like “what kind of fuckery is this?” Although she’s only two album’s deep, Winehouse is starting to set a high standard for popular music – a welcome change.