PLUMB � �BEAUTIFUL LUMPS OF COAL�
(album/ CURB RECORDS)
You�ll have to excuse female singer-songwriter Plumb for not using her real name, but her real name is Tiffany Arbuckle Lee - and how would you like that?
God knows why she settled for Plumb as a stage-name, but the important thing is that her music is sensational, this 12-track album being the first UK release of her material, following on from two independently released albums in the US that both sold in excess of 100,000 copies each - which is an astounding fact.
Yep, you may not know her name (yet), but there is already a good chance that you�ve heard her exquisitely soulful and rocking voice, given that some of her songs have featured in Jim Carrey flick �Bruce Almighty,� and in US TV imports �Dawson�s Creek� and �ER.� Ooh-aah�
While album-opener �Free� enticingly starts off awash with subdued atmospherics, give the track a few seconds before a killer guitar hook kicks back and Plumb is ready to rock in much the same vein as artistes such as Meredith Brooks and, in her more Country-ised moments, Shania Twain. Interestingly, Plumb actually co-wrote Mandy Moore�s hit-song �I Wanna Be With You.�
For the large-part, though, and the best parts, Plumb is an out-and-out rocker who draws on catchy pop melodies of the vibrantly produced caliber that Roxette used to their mega-successful benefit. �Sink �n� Swim� might even remind of Brit singer Carol Decker, this track hugely reminiscent of T�Pau�s awesome, stadium-directed pop-rock sound, while �Without You� has a distinctly compelling Alanis Morissette-esque air about it.
While Plumb is the singer of all the tracks� sultry vocals, she also � during some songs � plays percussion, piano and even mandotar� whatever the latter is� to further prove her talents. Indeed, �Nice, Na�ve and Beautiful� is gorgeously textured by way of the sitar and violins that back her singing and really flesh out the mood, before �Unnoticed� reminds of Tori Amos�/ Suzanne Vega�s way with acting the softly-spoken, oft.-misunderstood sex kitten.
Far from these tracks being beautiful lumps of coal, they are most definitely intoxicating testaments to an extraordinary singer and songwriter who gallantly wears her sensitive heart on her sleeve before wrapping round some utterly sublime melodies in order to stun anyone who listens in.
(Steve Rudd)
RELEASE DATE: FEBRUARY 9TH
www.plumbinfo.com