review: KT Tunstall - Tiger Suit

Tiger Suit
KT Tunstall
Virgin Records, 2010


Description:
Tiger Suit marks KT's third studio album and heralds the beginning of a new musical adventure for the multi-platinum Scottish-born singer and songwriter. Organic instrumentation is blended with dance-friendly textures, the results of which she has dubbed "Nature Techno" to encapsulate the album's collision of raw, upfront rootsiness and sleek electronic textures.

Released on October 5th, the album's rollicking first single, "Fade Like a Shadow" is already a Top 20 hit with radio.

KT's previous hit songs include - the Grammy-nominated "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree," "Suddenly I See," Other Side of the World" or "Hold On".

You can visit KT's site HERE. You can follow her on Twitter HERE.  You can "like" her on Facebook HERE. You can but the album from Amazon HERE.

My Review:
To prepare, I listened to "Suddenly I See" (one my favorite songs!)...can't keep still with this one!

We caught her performing on a British show (can't remember what it was...Graham Norton?) where there were performers all around a stage and the host just walked around during the show and they played. She won me over that day! She was playing all by herself with her guitar and equipment and it seemed like there was a whole band. She's amazing!

(Note: I'm listening as I write this...)

1. Uummannaq Song (3.36) - starts out sounding kinda "exotic"... kicks in nicely...my son is flying an airplane to it, so it's made his approval...her voice is amazing as usual. The beat is catchy and the background vocals are cool too! Neat ending.

2. Glamour Puss (3.19) - woah...catchy beat...good dance rhythm...lyrics kinda okay...her voice is raspy and whiney at the same time...nice bridge. Wish the synth was louder in the mix. It sounds cool but it's kinda low in some points.

3. Push That Knot Away (3.46) - nice slow opening...oh, this is reminding me of something...good beat progressing...liking the lyrics (had to pull them out to read), they have a nice message (I'm sure she's meaning it as something else, but am I finding a Christian message here?)...nice breakdown...channels Green Day or something...yeah!

4. Difficulty (4.58) - there's the synth...my son is loving it...it's pretty bare but great...her voice on this one is reminding me of Pink...song seems kinda long, but it never gets boring...

5. Fade Like a Shadow (3.26) - oh, I've heard this on the radio...I didn't know it was her before, it reminds me of Stevie Nicks a bit, she's got a nice fast trill to her voice...catchy dance worthy.

6. Lost (4.41) - The opening is very much like Stevie...it's a beautiful ballad that grows with each verse and repeat of the chorus...it builds and becomes kinda rocking...great story in the song...ends with a haunting quality...feels too long though, I ended up skipping about the last half minute or so.

7. Golden Frames (3.45) - KT is really embracing the synth on this album...sounds like she's covering a Doors song or something...dark and moody...the male background vocal was unexpected...I can hear this one on a Grey's Anatomy soundtrack. About 30 seconds too long.

8. Come On, Get In (3.45) - Hello Joan Jett...oh come on...it's Black Horse all over again...I guess an artist can re-do their own rhythms whenever they want, but it's really similar. Reminds me of an 80's cheerleader hit.

9. (Still a) Weirdo (3.40) - cool synth beatbox opening...upbeat ballad...not my favorite on the album. Strange and melodic, but not my style.

10. Madame Trudeaux (3.18) - fun opening, have high hopes...her vocals are overprocessed and the rhythm reminds me of Marilyn Manson's "Beautiful People". Nice guitars though.

11. The Entertainer (4.45) - ballady, my least favorite of the album, although the different levels of instruments are a nice touch they are all at the same level and nothing really stands out musically.

Overall impressions: I'm quite happy with this. It will be my "go-to" for solo drives for a while! She's made a masterful transition in style and I can imagine this would translate well into a live show. I'm reading a lot of hope into her lyrics. I think it's cool how much of the music she does herself.

I received a copy of the album from the One to One Network in exchange for promotion through a review. No additional compensation has been received and I was only required to be honest. All opinions are my own.