Esthero "Breath From Another" Sony/WORK OK 68698 1998 (56:21)
Breath From Another (4:47)
Heaven Sent (4:30)
Anywayz (3:54)
That Girl (4:41)
Country Livin' (The World I Know) (4:20)
Flipher Overture (:42)
Half a World Away (4:18)
Lounge (4:58)
Superheroes (3:58)
Indigo Boy (4:19)
Swallow Me (6:06)
Esthero is Esthero (vox, co-production) and Doc (instruments & programming, production) with help from a whole bunch of people.
Overall impression: blah. This is the debut album from 19 year old Esthero. The first single, "Heaven Sent", is a lovely blend of female vocals/rock/piano/orchestral/flamenco guitar/light trip-hop sounds that impressed me. Unfortunately it's the crown jewel of the album in my opinion. "Breath From Another" is essentially a mellow pop record that utilizes trendy drum n' bass and trip hop elements. The music is well crafted, Doc puts all the pieces in the right places, and Esthero's voice (which I'd swear up and down was Poe on a few songs) is quite enchanting. So, what's the problem? Well, I'm not really sure! I get the impression that this stuff is just too "slick", too produced, too radio friendly (afterall, I listen to Barry Adamson and Tricky so it's hard to lower my standards!) It seems to be lacking substance and depth, and Esthero's lyrics are a bit trite. The music lacks punch, it's light weight ear candy and it's been done before ... to death. There's definitely some moments though: all of "Heaven Sent" and various melodic vocal parts on various tracks work pretty well. The second half of the album gets a bit dull and just makes me want to shut it off. I tried really hard to like this album, and although better than most of the shite on radio these days, it's mostly forgettable stuff. I recommend just the single instead ...
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