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Stranger than Fiction - Kayla Kavanagh - A Response

I’ve written about the music of Kayla Kavanagh before, when I was bowled over by her single “On the Borderline,” and once again she has inspired me to record my response to her music…this time with her eagerly awaited album…”Stranger than Fiction.”  If you were wondering if it was worth the wait…it definitely was…

One of the over riding themes emerging out of the songs is one of vulnerability…there is an ever present sense of having to deal with difficulties and emotional trials…however refreshingly there is a streak of resilience that flows through all of the tracks…even in it’s darkest moments you’re aware of a strength and intelligence that reassures all is not lost…

The album opens with the edgy and uncertain, “Fallen,” with a sound that builds in richness until quite literally you feel like you could fall into it and revel in the immersion.  This richness is revisited later in the album…with tracks such as, “Hold onto the Future.” This opener is followed by a track of relative simplicity, “Colour me in,” in this and other songs such as, “On My Knees,” “Never felt like this,” and “Fight the tears,“ one of the essential aspects of Kayla’s music comes to the fore…namely her flawless voice with it’s exquisite truth, purity and expression.  In, “My Mistake,” the resilient quality I mentioned earlier really comes through, similarly in the upbeat, “Love You,” and that leads us to the slightly smokier feel of, “Broken Dreams.”

However against the odds the best is yet to come as the latter half of the album has some of the most original and engaging work…Waterfall looked set to be my favourite in all it’s haunting delicate detail but in the end the final track, “Better this Way,” usurped all other contenders…because of it’s eloquence lyrically, it’s melodic accessibility but mostly because it’s simply beautiful…

A word must be said about the production as the whole album is expertly put together under the talented ear of Nigel Pease and is enhanced by the talents of the handful of musical contributors.

If you have £10 to spare and enjoy class when it comes to the music you listen to I can’t recommend “Stranger than Fiction,” enough…

Available from www.KaylaKavanagh.com