Emily King – East Side Story December 31, 2007

Rating:

I bought East Side Story by Emily King as part of my exploration of R&B, after she came to play a mini concert at work. I actually missed the concert, but it was enough to make me curious about her and try her album.

I really got into the first song, Walk In My Shoes, which has a very good beat. This is apparently the title that she tried to put forward, as the album contains a bonus track, with is an alternate version featuring Lupe Fiasco. Another song that I quite like is Alright.

Not all songs pleased me though. The rhythm box is really overused on You Can Get By. E Melody doesn’t do it for me.

The album also features a cover of Bill Whithers’s Aint’ No Sunshine. It’s a nice cover, and you can really hear that Emily King has a very nice voice on it, but it’s not that different from the original. I always wondered about the appeal of artists to do covers on album studios that are not radically different; examples of good covers in my opinion are Hey! Joe by Willie DeVille or All Along the Watchtower by The Jimi Hendrix Experience.

As I’m really a beginner in R&B, I’m not quite sure how this album would fare with R&B fans. Coming with a rock background, I found it a promising but unequal first album. Emily King is only 21 years old, so I’m sure we’ll hear from her again soon.

Listen to: Walk In My Shoes

Listen to: Alright

Click here to buy East Side Story by Emily King.