On the back of
the cover slick to Brooke Fraser’s debut album, What to Do With
Daylight, there’s a quote from Leo Tolstoy. It
says, “If I know the way home and an walking along
it drunkenly, is it any less the right way because
I am staggering from side to side?”.
What this has to do with contemporary female singer-songwriter
pop music is anybody’s guess. Is it meant to show
that Brooke Fraser is more sophisticated, intelligent
and forthright than her contemporaries like Delta
Goodrem, Missy Higgins, et al? At only nineteen years
of age, reality indicates that Fraser has much growth
in her future, to the point that such staggering
is really only on its first wobble on What to
Do With Daylight.
And, to be honest, there ain’t exactly much stumbling
along the way on offer here – everything is too sophisticated
and perfectly placed for that. Following on from
the likes of Bic Runga and Anika Moa, Fraser is a
New Zealand playing music for a worldwide audience;
this is perfectly pleasant but decidedly inoffensive
pop music. Fraser’s voice is much the same – there’s
little chance or risk, with her croon barely getting
off the ground throughout the course of What to
Do With Daylight.
Yet, for one so young, there’s no doubt that she
has talent – she wrote (or co-wrote) every song on What
to Do With Daylight, something that the likes
of labelmate Delta certainly doesn’t – can’t? – do,
and singles like “Lifeline” and “Better” are strong
pop moments. Fraser is an artist who’s at the beginning
of what will, no doubt, be a long and hopefully productive
musical career. She’s got a lot of growing left in
her.
