Ultimately, Angelica’s ‘All I Am’ presented itself as a bag of delicious looking sugary lollies, but for those who don’t have a sweet tooth, then this will be unloved in the supermarket aisle.
Written by: gdmonline
ARTIST: Angelica (Sweden)
ALBUM: All I Am
LABEL: Frontiers
SERIAL: FRCD 1072
YEAR: 2020
CD INFO: Discogs Info List
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Sweden
LINEUP: Angelica Rylin – lead vocals * Daniel Flores – keyboards, drums, backing vocals, production * Michael Palace – guitars, bass * Pedro Cesar Camargo – acoustic guitars, strings production (#11)
TRACK LISTING: 01 Calling * 02 Beat Them All * 03 Addicted To You * 04 I’m Sorry * 05 Time And Space * 06 Don’t Say Goodbye * 07 Still Bleeding * 08 Living On High Hopes * 09 A Pounding Heart * 10 Angel * 11 Time To Go Home
RATING: 60/100
WEBLINKS: FB Page
Background
A recent low flying release in 2020 is the second solo album from Swedish singer and front-woman for the band The Murder Of My Sweet: Angelica Rylin. A seven year break is a bit of a professional stretch, though her other gig has filled in the gap with albums released in between times.
I was quite fond of that 2013 debut ‘Thrive’ which veered toward the Issa side of the powder room, and seven years later there’s considerably less guests involved, just two this time: partner Daniel Flores and guitar maestro Michael Palace. The result?
The Songs
Not good unfortunately. This time, the music veers heavily to the pop side of the pop/rock fence. It’s like I was listening to all those female pop pretenders from the noughties, like [insert country] Idol wannabes. I know Angelica is much better than this pop patter.
After the first couple of pop numbers (see the videos below), Angelica attempts to get back on track with the much better ‘Addicted To You’ while ‘Time And Space’ is a lightweight ray of sunshine. ‘Still Bleeding’ is my pick of the bunch, heavied up considerably with a searing solo from Mike Palace. Vocally, Angelica sounds similar to Nashville’s Jennifer Paige.
‘A Pounding Heart’ was another album highlight but the ballads such as ‘I’m Sorry’ and ‘Don’t Say Goodbye’ didn’t do a lot for me. I mentioned Nashville before which makes for a very good reference point because this album sounds like it could have been recorded there!
In Summary
Ultimately, Angelica’s ‘All I Am’ presented itself as a bag of delicious looking sugary lollies, but for those who don’t have a sweet tooth, then this will be unloved in the supermarket aisle. There are about 2 or 3 songs worth giving a listen but other than that, no thanks.
Video
Calling
Beat Them All
