Album Review

Claire Toomey – Found

• 8th Nov 2007

South London singer/songwriter Claire Toomey (CT) must’ve somehow fallen firmly on her feet. Working so closely and frequently with an established lady within the industry, a certain Judie Tzuke, who not only co-penned ‘Found’ CTs new single, but even went as far as to take CTs photo for the single.
CT and her wide eyed youthful gaze gives the initial impression of her being a delicate, haphazard (having lost a batch of CDs somewhere) and seemingly helpless little lady who’s clambering to her feet in the music world. But, she’s got back up from someone who aside from working on her solo career, has been known to collaborate with the likes of Morcheeba, so surely she can’t stray too far from the tracks, can she?
‘Found’ starts off sounding like an acoustic version of ‘Peaches’ by Presidents of the USA that patiently escalates for a whole minute before a chorus that, in my minds ear curiously echoes Placebo, kicks in and lets the songs dynamics loose. The instrumentation is sharp and saves a slightly repetitive song from tragedy, as does CTs acceptable but somewhat generic vocal. The lyrics are engaging and even pleasing but with so many quirky ladies stepping under the spotlight these days, it’s just not good enough to be, well, good enough anymore, you need an edge. I’m sure CT will find hers; it’s just not her time yet. Keep at it CT, you got something.