Ear to the Stereo (Eye To The Telescope - KT Tunstall)

Member Name: triplecthegame

Product:	Eye To The Telescope - KT Tunstall
Date:	09/08/05 (1228 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Beautifully put together, not a bad song on it

Disadvantages: She'll probably lose the Mercury Prize to the new 'in-band' The Kaiser Chiefs

If you hadn’t noticed its come around to that time of year when the Mercury Music Prize is going to be awarded, and the dreadfully over-rated Kaiser Chief’s are favourites to win it, there’s plenty of albums out there that I think deserve it over the Chief’s but more specifically there’s an artiste called KT Tunstall, who if she doesn’t win it - well I’ll cry, the reason being for the awesome album that is Eye to the Telescope.

** The Singer **

I first got into KT (Shortened to save my fingers) when I saw her do a gig at Fibbers in York this February, a friend of mine had recommended that I go see it and it was well worth the entrance fee.

Originally from St.Andrews but with Chinese Blood in her, her up-bringing was anything but music related and was more accustomed to that of an artist, as her parents took to taking her out on the hill’s and pushing her to paint, but once she’d got the sound-track to Never-ending Story there was no doubt in her mind that she wanted to get into music.

** The album itself **

Opening with the recent single ‘Other side of the World’ Tunstall starts the album off with a great song to show the listener exactly what her voice can do without giving them too much to listen to in a first track. The song itself is all about a friend of hers who got involved in long-distance relationship and KT’s observations from afar. To be honest the reason I like this song is because I can personally agree with some of the lyrics in it, but even if I couldn’t - it’s a moving track that really sets the pace for the album, and everything else that's about to come.

Then we get our first track that has yet to be released: Another Place to Fall, which to me has a mix of Beth Orton and PJ Harvey to it, the opening notes, make you think that you’re going to get a dark song, and to a degree it seems like it is, my own interpretation of it is one of a story about someone who hides behind a mask and refuses to let the world see exactly who they are, and constantly failing because of it. The actual music is more upbeat than that of Other side of the World - it’s a bit faster and the guitars are a bit more prominent, but out of nowhere there’s a part that I’d have thought wouldn’t work, where the emphasis is all on KT singing, but it does, its almost like its a break in the song for the listener to get used to hearing the guitars and before you know it its back to the same music you originally heard and it works as a good album track.

Next to come is ‘Under The Weather’ which is an extremely melodic track that is kept extremely simple for the first part and is the type of song that you could easily find you nodding your head to when you hear it on the radio without even knowing what you’re listening to. Then what seems to be a tradition from KT is that of a section where she brings her guitar-play to the fore a lot more and from my eyes it seems as if she’s made what could have been an absolutely divine song into one that is simply really good because of it.

Then we get to the first single that was released off the album and probably the most ‘pop’ song on here, ‘Black Horse and the Cherry Tree’. This is the kind of song that you’ll end up either loving or hating, personally I adore it and as with a lot of fans end up singing along to it..... a lot. The actual track has a quick pace to it and even when she stops the guitars you can’t help but find yourself sat there singing along and nodding your head - it’s just that kind of song. As it goes on you find that this is a song that was criminally under-looked in the charts.

Next up is Miniature Disaster’s, a song that has the pace of Black Horse and the Cherry Tree, but doesn’t have that same catchiness to it, don’t get me wrong it’s still a good song, just not the best on the album. The actual tale of the song seems to be that of someone who’s anxious to succeed at everything they do but they’re just going about it too fast, the lyrics do seem a bit insightful at times, but compared to the rest of the album this isn’t the best outing by KT.

We then come along the very short track ‘Silent Sea’ To be honest I love this track just because the music’s simplicity is one that gives KT’s voice a perfect chance to be shown to the world. At time’s its almost as if KT’s whispering the lyrics to you, and that works fine - no matter how many times I’ve heard this song I still can’t place any storyline to it and it just seems like its one of those tracks that you should sit back and love.

Track 7 is Universe & U, which starts off with a simple drum track in the background and KT singing, and as it goes on its the only time I’d say there’s anywhere near a Rock-style guitar track, and that’s in the chorus, but yet she can quite easily bring it back down again. Out of all tracks I find this one the hardest to write about, it does give a good range of KT’s talent’s but it’s just the sort of song you’ve got to listen to.

Next one up is False Alarm , again the track is similar to Under the Weather in its opening, it starts quiet but the chorus kicks it up a notch, KT’s soft yet slightly husky voice seems to sit perfectly with the writing of this song. Throughout the track there seems to be an up and down in the back-ground music, which for a lot of the time I wouldn’t recommend, but this just makes for great music that you can sit back and enjoy.

Then we come up to the new single ‘Suddenly I See’, once again a jaw-dropping song, with a quick pace, the lyrics are again simplistically evil as are the lyrics to most of the songs on this album, Although they’re easy to sing along to you find you haven’t a clue what you’re singing about. However I’d say the tale behind the song is that of someone who out of nowhere has realised what they want to do with their life (much like yours truly - maybe another indication of why I Like the track), and the music is second to none, and well worth the price of the album on its own.

Stoppin’ The Love is an almost self-explanatory track in the title, its naturally about ending a relationship and the ex not wanting to let everything go away. To be honest this track has a very Blues-y feel to it. When I first heard it I hated it, but it’s a grower - again you’ll find your foot involuntarily tapping along as KT almost growls the lyrics out over a low bass guitar track in the back-ground, and it’s found its way into my head and heart as a song.

As with many album’s I love there’s a tear-jerker on the album, and Eye to the Telescope is no exception - this time its ‘Heal Over’ and I’d recommend anyone who ever feel’s down over anything to listen to this song and not cheer up. I know that sound’s a weird thing to say, but it’s one of those songs that get you crying because it makes you feel happy. I remember hearing this for the first time at the gig I went to and instinctively wanted to wrap my arms around my (female) friend who was with me, it felt a bit weird until I noticed that quite a few people around me were the same as well, if that gives you an idea of what it’s like then good.
The actual story of the song is one of telling a friend that thing’s will get better eventually but until then you’re there for them, it’s moody, melancholy but still seems to have a good outcome to it, hence why I’d say it is my favourite on the album.

The album ends on ‘Through the Dark’ which starts off on a very Country Music style Piano, and you can even hear the country influences in KT’s voice, as she rasp’s her way into the opening lines of the song. To be honest, this seems to be a very old-school offering for a solo female artist and again, it’s a beautiful piece of music that deserves to close the album as it does - leaving you knowing that there’s going to be more to come from this lady. The only thing that got to me a bit about the song was that it was a different tack to the rest of the album and almost seemed out of place, but the pure brilliance of it pulls it through.

** Over-all thoughts **

I haven’t been this excited about an album since I first heard Trouble by Coldplay, and this album’s twice as heavenly in its sounds, its a sad day when the Kaiser Chiefs are probably going to walk away with the Mercury Music Prize over something as gorgeous as this and I would recommend to all music-lovers to go out and buy it as soon as possible - its only 9.99 in the shops and even then its only 8.75 online, and its a very worthy investment.

Summary: A beautiful album worth the £10 to buy it.