Album Review

Miranda Barber – Lips Decision

• 29th Jul 2008

The expectations for Miranda Barber’s debut album are pretty high and people have waited a long time since she won, Slice The Pie’s singer song writer competition in 2001. The showcase granted her £15,000 to produce an album and ‘Lips Decision’ is what she came up with.

The result is an album oozing sexuality, in 1950’s smoky jazz bar feel. There are some gorgeous bluesy piano moments and soul that would melt even the coldest of hearts. ‘My Roof Has Got A Hole In It’ is a fragile ballad, which is simple yet compelling.

‘Num Num Song’ has a fantastically classy double bass intro, which draws you into the up tempo jazz track. The variation on this album helps keep it fresh and the listener interested as Barber jumps from style to style. Her vocals are faultless as she skits around the bluesy ‘Too Damn Hard’, whilst ‘Eliza’ captures the essence of good old fashioned doo wop.

One of the most impressive things about this album is that despite the fact that it is rich with velvety, sexy vocals and crammed full with sassiness, smooth isn’t necessarily a word I’d use to describe it, which could sound like I’m contradicting myself but I’m not. It’s not smooth because it doesn’t sound over produced. Miranda Barber genuinely sounds as though she could be draped over a baby grand piano in a down town New York piano jazz bar singing to a room full of cigar puffing suits.

It’s not smooth and thank God for that.