If you’re unfamiliar with Leann Rimes’ work, you may have consigned her to being a one-hit wonder with Can’t Fight the Moonlight, a song that seemed to be utterly inescapable in the early noughties, in no small part due to Coyote Ugly.
However Rimes has been belting her heart out long before the aforementioned song, she burst out onto the scene in 1996 with ‘Blue’ a song that immediately captured America, if not us here on this side of the pond. Although it could easily be attributed to the fact her vocals were much like the late, great Patsy Cline, it was definitely, in no small part, due to the fact Rimes was only 13 at the time. After her catapult into fame (the moonlight, if you’ll excuse the pun) Rimes was nominated for, and has won, multiple awards in both country and more contemporary outings. In more recent years, the 34 year old has had a slightly rougher ride, with a dissolution of her first marriage, an affair leading to her new marriage and checking into treatment for stress and anxiety, many of these themes can be heard and seem to be exorcised in Remnants, her latest release.
The album soars straight into life with The Story, a cover version of Brandi Carlisle’s song filled with themes of love, age, loneliness and romance. It’s very touching and seems to be cathartic choice for Rimes as an opening song, as though she’s inviting the listener to indeed, hear her story as the album progresses. This reviewer is also not afraid to state he thinks this cover version outstrips the original, with Rimes’ clearly excellent voice and minimalist strings and drums to punctuate and add rhythm to the melody. Despite this great opener to the album however, the rest of the release can feel a bit confused.
Remnants is LeAnn’s thirteenth studio album
With three different producers not including Rimes being featured on the album, some being known more for their work on more R&B focussed work, the album has a mixture of different feelings and tones from song to song with no set tone across the album or clear standard of production.
The second song, Love Line is a great example of the country roots that placed Rimes where she is today with a bluesy tone of basic drums and strums that underline her voice wonderfully, as expected her voice is truly the star of the track, and indeed the album. The title track, Remnants, is further proof to this point. With Rimes belting like a southern belle Adele, as she has done admirably for years we’re shown a fantastic example of the country-contemporary that she is indicative of, although admittedly a full album of belting can get tiring, as every verse is a clear lead up into a belting chorus.
Other songs however, show the production leaning more towards the pop/contemporary side of the production and her repertoire. Outrageous Love is a coffeeshop acoustic ballad crying out to be a James Bond theme, with gospel backing vocals cementing the latter element of the song. These backing singers return again for Long Live Love, with very little sense of her country style present at all in this track dedicated to her support of the LGBTQ+ community. Long Live Love is in much the same vein, both lyrically, thematically and indeed by title. Love is undoubtably a steadfast of the music industry and this isn’t necessarily a band thing. However at this point, the songs, not just my notes, are starting to blend into one and any sense of singularity between them is disappearing amongst the more poppy, bass feel of the previous songs.
However, How to Kiss a Boy is a great reminder of why people loved Rimes in the first place. Her vocals are strong and she’s able to tell a story through song like few others. On the track Rimes switches from restrained and placed to powerful and emotive. She explores every nuance of the piano-backed melody showcasing her rich vibrato and her powerful belt. It’s one of the best songs she’s released in a long time and it’s a welcome return to form for the star. There’s even a moonlight reference, although that may be me shoving that in there myself. Mother is another fantastic track on the album, and I would argue the best track on the album by a country mile (please excuse the second pun). It’s emotional and lilting with another piano-led melody whilst the lyrics allude to her issues prior to recording the album.
That said about the BEST song on the album, it’s not my favourite. The real surprise track is from Learning Your Language. My favourite moment comes on the acoustic track, which lyrically explores dealing with your insecurities to allow yourself to be present in a relationship. The vocals on the track are absolutely stunning and Rimes shows that she has as much power when she’s restrained as she does in full voice and belting. As the album goes on, this being one of the later tracks it becomes more apparent that Rimes had more input with the actual songwriting, which shows, and in this reviewer’s opinion, makes the later tracks better. It’s just a shame there was less input on the earlier tracks and possibly a sad point that perhaps Rimes wasn’t confident enough to put her own material further forwards.
Rimes will be touring the Remnants album across the UK from this month (February) onwards. However if you can’t catch a live show, why not drop into one of our demo rooms to hear the album for yourself?
Author: Steve, Southgate store
