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Written
by Ed Price, posted by blog admin
Natalie
Estes’ four song EP collection 20/20 Vision heralds the emergence of a truly
diverse talent capable of staking out a claim as one of the most promising
vocalists working today. Young performers, singers or musicians, often arrive
with rough edges still intact and those are only chipped away over time. There
are much rarer cases, however, where a new performer comes out seemingly a
fully finished product and ready for the biggest of stages. Estes falls in the
second category. The four songs on her EP aspire to a surprising amount of
stylistic diversity that’s shocking for a relatively brief collection. Estes is
a Nashville native who didn’t immediately gravitate towards music, her first
love being dance, but hearing Adele’s cover of Dylan’s “To Make You Feel My
Love” during her high school years sparked a fire in her that seems to be
glowing now with enormous heat and intensity.
The
build for the opener, “Until I Do”, is nothing short of magnificent. The
lyrical content has a hint of titillation and equates the experience of longing
with addiction. It isn’t particularly new lyrical ground to turn over, but the
actual writing snaps with such a lean, economical bite that it redeems any
overly familiar aspects of the songwriting’s themes. It seems a little too cliché
to deem her vocal performance sultry, but this quality is in increasingly short
supply in our modern era and her evocative tone really embodies the song’s
narrative in a dramatic way. The intimacy of this performance will excite many
listeners. As great as that opener is, however, “Where There’s Smoke There’s
Fire” is even better. This is the sort of big show stopping, cinematic number
that most singers and pop performers aspire to latching onto for their entire
careers and it makes a tremendous impact from the first. The backing vocals
here make Estes’ strong belt even more memorable and the muscular recording is
one of the best production moments on 20/20 Vision. Like the rest of the
material, the songwriting and Estes’ vocal performance makes great use of
sympathetic dynamics that make the song take on an even grander air than it
might otherwise possess.
“Reminds
Me of You”, the EP’s penultimate track, is much more in the mode of traditional
balladry, but Estes excels here as well. There’s a gentleness that mixes with
her customary intimacy to nice effect and it’s equally complemented well by the
artfully turned piano work. The final number “Bad Game” has, perhaps, more
attitude than the previous three numbers combined and Estes tears into the
lyrics with all the zest they deserve. It’s an exclamation point ending on a
fantastic EP that few young performers today can hope to equal. 20/20 Vision
may be brief, but the four songs included on this release pack more of a punch
than many full length efforts ever harbor.
Grade:
A
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