Album Review: Avalon (EP) by Gabrielle Aplin

(for Gig Junkies -  www.gigjunkies.com)

British-born singer-songwriter Gabrielle Aplin has an impressive track record with a discography consisting of two studio albums, now six EP’s, three live albums and nine singles. Her most recent EP, ‘Avalon’ was released on the 6th of October after releasing her first single from the album, ‘Waking Up Slow’ in August this year.

The track has been a massive radio hit and has had over 1.5 million plays on Spotify, with over 5 million plays on Facebook of the more recent acoustic version.

Gabrielle became a UK household name in 2012 when the Christmas John Lewis advert featured a cover of Frankie Goes to Hollywood’s ‘Power of Love’. Her success continued with the release of her first album ‘English Rain’ in May 2013, followed up by a second studio album, ‘Light Up the Dark’ in September 2015.

For her latest EP, she embraces a whole new style and reinvents herself as an artist. From the first track and single, ‘Waking Up Slow’, the new direction is evident with electric guitars, synths and electronic beats giving this a more commercial/indie-pop flair. The track has been a massive radio hit and has had over 1.5 million plays on Spotify, with over 5 million plays on Facebook of the more recent acoustic version.
The second track, ‘Say Nothing’, continues the electronic-pop-sound. ‘Used to Do’ temporarily slows down the pace and has a quick flash-back to earlier work as it starts off more focused around her vocals and backed by acoustic guitar and piano – It however quickly picks up a tempo notch.

The final track ‘Stay’ displays her fantastic vocal range as she confidently delivers lyrics, “Life, a couple hundred miles away; And I remember you like it was yesterday; I didn’t want to leave you on your own in the end; But we’re not supposed to feel this, I can’t pretend; But times gone by on a runaway train… And there’s nothing we can do to bring it back again” and ends the EP on an impressive note.

She retains her very recognisable and distinctive sound vocally, but this is a more mature, evolved piece of work from Gabrielle. This might not be all her fans’ “cuppa-tea”, but the majority will be delighted. A risk, but in my opinion, best to date.

TRACKLIST:

01. Waking Up Slow
02. Say Nothing
03. Used To Do
04. Stay

All Images ©Marianne Brits-Strodl
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