Brit-blues vocalist returns with killer second album.
Birmingham singer Rebecca Downes is rapidly becoming a primal force in her field, having taken a step up in sophistication from her excellent debut album, Back To The Start, released last year. Together with her songwriting partner Steve Birkett, who also supplies searing electric guitar on this 12-song follow-up, Downes delivers a virtuoso performance throughout, demonstrating the full dynamic range of her voice, an asset of serious power.
Fortunately she knows when to hold back on the full lung-power (see the subtle piano ballad 1000 Years), allowing the melodies to speak for themselves. The hooks of Night Train (not the Guns N’ Roses song, although there’s a certain west coast vibe in common with that tune) and the line, ‘A broken heart can mend itself ’ in Never Gonna Learn will stick in your head for months. You won’t mind, though.
