Lippy Lass (Read My Lips - Sophie Ellis-Bextor)

Member Name: TigerTiger

Product:	Read My Lips - Sophie Ellis-Bextor
Date:	12/03/02 (576 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Sophie has a distinctive voice, Some great tracks to dance round your handbag to

Disadvantages: Some Filler tracks

Ms Bextor has made quite an impact on the charts in past years, both on her own and in her well known collaboration with Spiller and Groovejet. She is also getting quite a reputation for her bitching and inability to say anything nice about anyone or anything. Regardless of this, Sophie, the 22 year old daughter of old Blue Peter Favourite Janet Ellis is doing quite well for herself and also has an enviable wardrobe to boot.

Somehow I found myself buying her debut album "Read my lips" which was released in 2001 and I was quite happy with what I found. It is fair to say that Sophie had a lot to live up to following the success of her collaboration with Spiller and I can understand why many people have been disappointed with the album, as balaeric disco it is not. However, it is packed with very strong lyrical numbers, wall flower Sophie is not.

~~1. Take me Home~~

"Take me home, Take me home, oh It's going to happen anyway"

"Take me home" was the first track to be released from the album "Read my lips" in the summer of 2001 and it was co-penned Alex James from Blur. It also reminds me of my holiday and so I play it and have very fond memories. It is a tale of picking someone up in a nightclub It actually seems to suit Sophie very well as basically it cuts all the rubbish and just tells it how it is. In society we all know that it is fine for men to sleep around and do what they please, however, for women to do just that makes them "easy" or a "slapper". However, here "Take me home" says to hell with that, we both know what is going to happen anyway, there is no point making small talk, just take me home and do what we know we both want to. It's a refreshing honesty. It acknowledges that people will talk, but they just don't care. They know what they want and they go for it.

The video was filmed in a 50's theme which is totally contrad
ictory to the lyrics, but it all fit together wonderfully and the tune was very infectious. It reached the top 5.

2. Lover

“I’m lying low, I’m sinking, I’m going undercover, I’m going to be your lover”

This track is powerful from the word go. It talks about fancying someone and wanting them to be yours and how they set out to get them to be their lover. For some reason this track seems really familiar. In reality I don’t like this very much and I may even have to be so cruel as to call
it a “filler”(and yes I said Filler and NOT spiller!).

3. Move this mountain

“I’ll lift you up and my back will never break, and I can move this mountain".

Once again we are straight in…bang…to track
2, and once again this was co-written with Alex James from Blur, however, I doubt it will be as successful as “Take me home”.
There are chiming clocks and powerful lyrics and we are back talking about the whole power of love and how it makes you feel as if you can do anything, moving mountains included. I don’t see this being released as a single, but it is a very catchy and powerful track.

4. Murder on the dance floor

“it’s murder on the dance floor, but you better not kill the groove, DJ. Gonna burn this goddamn house right down”

“Murder on the dance floor” is the 2nd track to be released from “read my lips” and it was another top three hit. This is a great 70’s disco style track and for all of those who are partial to the odd boogie on the dance floor you will know at times it can almost be murder on the dance floor with all the people competing with their best moves.
This is still being played a great deal when out and about at the weekends and is one of the stronger tracks on the album.

5. Sparkle

&qu
ot;I'm only offering you love tonight, I'm only offering you this for life, "i'm only answering your call tonight, I'm only answering your lust for life"

This 80’s electro poppy inspired track is a wierd one for me. Upon first listening to it I thought it had a very strange tune (if you could call it that) and basically it wasn't the type of track you could sing along to. However, then one night something happened and I totally changed my opinion. It was a summer evening and my boyfriend and U were driving along with the roof down. it was dark and a little eerie, but we were speeding down the motorway, it was warm and the cd player was blaring and all of a sudden I fell in love with the song, in that situation it felt right. It was a happy time and I now hear this track and I think of that night and the feelings that went with it.

The lyrics are very contradictory. In one line they are saying they are only interested in the person for that night, but then the following line says how this is forever. The whole song alternates between the immediate and the future. So, there I was speeding on home along the motorway and it was a great night, yet at the same time I saw a great future ahead. I love the title as well, "Sparkle", it just sounds lovely! Wouldn’t we all just love to “sparkle in somebody’s mind”

6. Final Move

“I’ve tried to make you understand, now I’ve done all I can, it’s time to make my final move, as I’m not happy”

We have another electro style number with a large synth presence. This is about a relationship in crisis and how a couple are working out their final moves. The lyrics are definitely not award winning and I would go as far as to say they are quite basic as you can see from above. However, the lyrics are strong and you believe what she is singing. Listen able, but not a stand out tune.
<
br>7. I believe

“Hold me down, so I don’t leap onto the wall, with the fever of it all”

This is funky number and a little slower than some of the other tracks. You know that feeling when you are so in love you can do anything, you know that feeling Ms Ellis Bextor was talking about in track 3, well here she is again. Doesn’t it get annoying when people go on and on and on about how great being in love is :O) Once again, nice beat, but not a wise choice for a single.

8. Leave the others alone

I am going to be harsh and say that I don’t know the point in this track, it does nothing for me. She sings well, but it is just bland and quite frankly I don’t know how to describe the track at all, apart from saying it is medium paced and features some, but not many electro synth sounds.

9. By chance

“Getting here must be a privilege, do say something meaningful”.

A slower track once again. It’s all about doing things “by chance”, finding the light “by chance”, falling in love “by chance” and how nothing was planned, it all just sort of happened.

10. The universe is you

“Read my lips, I don’t want to get involved with relativity”

Once again she picks up speed and adds in some synth electro sounds and it all starts to get a bit better again. This is the track that the title “read my lips” comes from and it is a strong tune, definitely one of the better ones.

11. Is it any wonder

“And is it any wonder that we found each other, I’ve found another who meets the same”.

This is probably the most chilled track on the cd, and it features some different instrumental sounds that I like. It still has quite a beat to it, but it is noticeably slower as the vocals talk of finding “the one” and the person meant to be with yo
u.

12. Everything falls into place

“Everything falls into place and then we all go mad and throw it away”

I think we get the idea that Sophie Ellis Bextor likes the 80’s, well she is an 80’s child. Here is a strong example of an 80’s inspired number. It sounds like something that could be in “The Breakfast club” at first. However, I am actually happier as it is a lot stronger and makes up for the previously quieter tracks. Maybe I like the idea that everything does fall into place eventually. However, the track is also very true in that we often do silly things and throw everything we have away, be it cheating on a partner or losing a friend through a fight.

I can see myself bopping around on the dance floor to this one and doing my best 80’s revival and I have to be honest, that makes me smile for I too am an 80’s child and they were good times.

~~~But Is this worth buying???~~~~

Hmm, yes and no. I don’t regret buying it, however, at the same time I am not sure that I would buy it again. It’s a tricky one. There are probably 6 very good tracks out of 12 and so half good half bad. If you were to calculate the price of buying 3 singles from this, then you have paid for the album and so it probably is worth buying.
“Read My lips” features a lot of 80’s and electro inspired tracks, but it does actually have a lot to offer quite a wide audience and so I imagine it is selling to many different people. From the dance queens who wanted more of the likes of “Groovejet” through to the teens of today wanting the latest pop tunes.

One thing for certain is that Sophie Ellis Bextor isn’t the greatest song writer, as few of her tracks have great lyrics (in my opinion). However, she can sing and she has a relatively distinctive voice and she has proved pretty popular this past year. The album is worth listening
to, but it is variable and there are one too many fillers and the odd really bad bit.

Available for £10.99 in most high street stores.

Summary: