When I heard that Aled Jones new album was going to be "a departure", a more pop oriented cd I caught myself thinking it would be a disaster. I’ve heard several examples of artists deciding to experiment with genres they really should stay away from, needless to say the result isn’t pretty.
But this time I was pleasantly surprised. The tracklist had me a little worried because a lot of them have been recorded so many times before by so many artists, and may be getting a little worn out. Amazingly enough, Aled manages to make it seem like you’re hearing the song for the first time. When he sings "You just call out my name/and you know wherever I am/I’ll come running to see you again" in "You’ve got a friend", it sounds like a sincere decleration of friendship. No wonder he has been known to ‘sing with his heart first and his voice second’.
I would say his voice and heart are equally present in his singing, though. His vocals are silky smooth, and he shows that the brilliant technique from his choir boy days is still intact.
Which is partly why the album doesn’t rate to a full 100% in my opinion - sometimes the vocals seem almost too smooth and a little too stiff for what the genre requires. I do believe that his voice is more versatile than what you’d think at first glance - I noticed that he tends to let loose more during the 2nd verse and not reach his full pop potential until the song fades out and you just want to hear more. Maybe he has to take some time to get used to his "new style" first.
One thing that really stands out in comparison to the previous albums in his adult career, is how well produced it is. It’s his first album recorded with an actual band instead of synth effects and it really gives the album a different level of integrity. He’s not a 100% there yet, but overall this is a little star twinkling in the sky of his career.
