Regular Columnists

Artist: Alice Peacock
Album: "Who I Am"
CD Review: Genre: Adult Alternative
Sounds Like: Carly Simon/Shawn Colvin
Technical Grade: 10
Production/Musicianship Grade: 10
Commercial Value: 10
Overall Talent Level: 10
Songwriting Skills: 10
Performance Skill: 10
Best Songs: Time, Only A Memory, Finding My Way, Love, Taught Me Well, Baby Come Back
Weakness: None
CD Review: Every now and then I get a project that captures the essence of what great songwriting is about. Alice Peacock, a singer/songwriter/musician from White Bear Lake, Minnesota, via LA, sent me such a project. This - her third independent offering - brilliantly showcases her vocal skills and lyrical talents and proves that you can master the craft of songwriting through osmosis if you are fed a steady diet consisting of the Beatles, Joni Mitchell, James Taylor, Carole King, and Carly Simon as a child.

The opening track, "Different From The Rest," is aptly titled and immediately introduces and establishes the adult nature of this project as she sings about the discovery of a former love's impending marriage. It is also there that we are greeted by the magical, musical chemistry created between Alice and her project's producer, Andrew Williams, who co-wrote and oversaw the string arrangements that weave an emotional fabric and cohesion throughout this CD which musically elevates it and gives it greater depth.

While Alice may have learned the craft of songwriting through studying proper song structure and emulating the melodic tendencies of her legendary influences, she joins their ranks with just one song: "Time." A sparse, deeply introspective ballad comprised of piano and a plush string arrangement that is so beautiful in lyric, message, performance, production, and musicianship, that it is easily the best song that I have ever reviewed. Songs like "Time" are the reason why collaborations are so important and music artists like Alice Peacock who are open to them, become so successful.

Other outstanding tracks include The Carpenters inspired, "Only A Memory," the Country flavored, "Finding My Way," and the more contemporary, Beatlesque, radio-friendly track, "Love." All would make excellent singles, but each soldify the completeness and greatneness of this project which will provide hours, years, and decades of listening pleasure to the next generation of music lovers and songwriters who Alice Peacock will soon be influencing.

Advice: Keep doing what you do, both in and out of the studio.

http://www.alicepeacock.com/