Kelli Ali - Rocking Horse (Album)
There will be 3 types of people checking out this review. You'll have old school Sneaker Pimps fans who remember those luscious trip-hop pop sounds of tracks like 6 Underground, and Spin Spin Sugar. You'll have those actually familiar with Kelli Ali's solo work- yes she has two previous solo albums- and finally, people who have clicked on the wrong link.
I fall into the first category. I couldn't imagine Ms Ali singing to a different sound than what was on Becoming X, the only Sneaker Pimps album to feature her on vocals. It was rocky, it was catchy, it was addictive. The only way I can describe my first impression of Rocking Horse; it's like comparing Goldfrapp's Seventh Tree, to some of her earlier electro pop-esque tracks Train and Strict Machine.
Rocking Horse is a stripped back, organic (for lack of better word) album. It features none of the sounds that made her a known name in the first place. Dancing Bears, the first single and track on the album, sets the feel for the following twelve tracks, a flute playing over a finger picked acoustic guitar, before her soft voice eases into the mix.
Ali has done great vocals for the album, soft and seductive, often even having a mythical feel to her voice, which is highlighted on tracks like second single, The Savages, and Heaven's Door. Some simple, feel-good music delivered by the acoustic guitars/banjos, flutes, and chellos/violas, whose purpose is to accentuate her beautiful vocals on the album, rather than hide them away.
The albums title track offers a more medieval feel, a slightly more aggressive violin punching over her vocals provides the listener with a welcome change before the album returns to the more laidback sounds of the earlier tracks.
Finishing with The Kiss Epilogue- a reprise to the earlier The Kiss- this isn't a short album at 55 minutes, and although there isn't much change in the music, with a nice bottle of red, and the right frame of mind, the album can soothe even the most tiresome day at work carelessly away.
