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Leona Lewis - Spirit: Believe the Hype

April 16th, 2008

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by Bambi Weavil

Leona Lewis Spirit cover

Official Site: http://www.discoverleonalewis.com

Official MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/leonalewis

The current number one album on Billboard’s album charts, Spirit, Leona Lewis soars as the newest pop diva of 2008. By now, you’ve heard the comparison to Whitney and Mariah; and I think Leona could join those exceptional talent easily. Leona could be on a first name basis with America now as the heavy promotions are paying off. Reasons to be impressed and to take notice, currently Leona is the first British female artist ever to debut at #1, the first British artist ever to have her first album debut at #1, and now this is the biggest digital album sales week ever for a new artist.

Her lead-off single, “Bleeding Love,” co-written and produced by OneRepublic frontman Ryan “Alias” Tedder has been dominating the UK charts, and is now crossing sales in the 1 million mark. This is the song that is making Leona a household name, showcasing her voice that has the capacity to thrill and move music lovers in ways no one has in years. “Better In Time” continues to march in the Mariah meets Alicia Keys styling, as Leona sings about recovering from a love that was seemingly unrecoverable. “I Will Be” which has the Celine Dion meets LeAnn Rimes type pop quality to it, could easily be a huge country crossover hit if Leona wanted to strip it down acoustically.

“I’m You” is experimental pop and R&B beats, and made me think of Toni Braxton. “Misses Glass” could and should be elevated to the techno charts with some serious remixes because it has that crossover capability. Leona is at her undefeatable best when she builds up ballads like “Angel,” one of the strongest tracks on Spirit, about recognizing the love between two people that touches the heavens. However, as much of a great vocal champion that she is, she should not have sang “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” - it doesn’t match any of the strong momentum of the album. Leona can sing anything extremely well, but this song should be done as a pre-warmup for her vocals before the show because it just drags without the theatricals or feeling special or timely.

“Yesterday” is pretty, uncomplicated and flows well on Spirit, and again, is another song that could be stripped into a acoustic version successfully. “Whatever It Takes” is pop/R&B radio ready to be a hit song, focusing on self-reliant strength and overcoming adversity that Lewis sings with believability that there is no stopping her. “Take A Bow” is the R&B dominant track on Spirit and I believe she could pull off a heavier R&B sound if she wanted, there is no limit to Leona’s talent. Spirit includes two UK bonus tracks, “Footprints In The Sand” and “Here I Am”, which showcases the reason why Leona Lewis is worlds apart from most of the American pop artists on the charts in the last ten years: she is believably human, making you feel what she’s feeling as she’s delivering the goods, with a uniquely exceptional vocal range. Believe the hype, Leona Lewis is worth talking about.

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