Kirsty Almeida - Pure Blue Green Album Review

Following her debut release the Spider EP earlier this year, Gibraltar born, Manchester based songstress, Kirsty Almeida, presents us with her first full album, Pure Blue Green. Almeida originally noticed for her unique individual qualities even though, it'd seem, on the surface you'd think she was another quirky female singer-songwriter but delve a bit deeper and it's a whole lot more than that. Although Almeida doesn't, at present, have the commercialism of her counterparts she does hold the titled of being able to creatively genre hop, as this album proves.

Starting off with a short sweet offering called Gather Round, which, entices us to listen closely we are then lead into a foot tapping You Can't Make Me Happy. A song that is, ridden with an air of angst in a storytelling way to the tender vulnerability in Cool Down Rewind.

As the album continues it's hard not to notice Almeida's vocal versatility she has a smooth voice that can work with multiple genres including jazz, country and soul. All of which influence the music. Each track offers something different whether it, be, lyrically or musically. There's an eccentricity to it all, it's a sheer delight and totally unique to current music trends. Some would say it's adventurous for a first offering but with the creativity a foot it holds a maturity that provides interesting aural delights.

Butterflies is a delicate heartfelt song, the simplicity is divine. The lyrics are about realism of a one-way romance. True to say that the majority of songs are about love and romance, but they aren't over the top in the girl meets boy kind of way. It's subtle, snuggled in the midst of changing tones and shifting melodies. As the album comes to the finale it continues in a wave of allure. Some would say that ending the album with a slower version of one of the opening tunes could be a bit contrived but it shows an ability to familiarise yourself with the depths Almeida can perform her own songs.

Almeida works her magic throughout the album. There's a showgirl vibe relayed throughout with the variety of instruments and sounds. It is rather sublime and the production mastered well as it troughs and peaks from track to track. It's certainly not flawless but it captures a spirit of imagination. Pure Blue Green in itself is a work of art, what, remains to be seen is whether a follow-up album can capture the same essence of ingenuity.

Jenn McCambridge