Bailey Rae

I really expected to like this album, so much so that I actually paid for it, which is something rare in the ranks of parasitic music reviewers who tend to get free review copies. I thought I’d like it because I liked Corrine Bailey Rae’s first album, and I liked the appearance she put in at the White House event honoring Sir Paul McCartney. She has a terrific voice, and the songs on that first album were mostly pretty good, so I had every reason to expect good or even better from this one. But it’s limp and wimpy, with nearly every song conveying the same tone, a kind of listless R&B that some people like, I suppose, if what I hear on the radio stations they play whenever I’m in a supermarket is any indication. On top of that, she often sounds slightly sour and off key to my ear. I’m not sure I can trust myself on that since surely this album was listened to by better ears than mine before it got released, but on several tracks, I’m afraid, she sounds distinctly off. Then, too, there’s a certain pretentiousness to the entire offering. Simply stated, I was hugely disappointed. That’s an understatement. I found the album actively annoying. Want a copy? I’ll sell you mine. Cheap.