We know and love her from her acoustic covers on YouTube where she’s racked up a total of over 29 million views, and now, after a six month stint in producer Mike Spencer’s (Rudimental, Alex Clare) Buckingham studio, Gabrielle Aplin’s debut album sees her move away from the land of cover songs and releasing original pieces.
English Rain instantly launches into a track, ‘Panic Cord’, which showcases just an acoustic guitar and flawless vocals, seemingly reflecting these simple beginnings and perfectly foreshadowing the types of songs to come.
Having written, or co-written, all of the songs herself, the album has many inspiring tracks telling us to such as ‘Keep on Walking’, which tells us t “keep looking up“, as well many that focus on the various stages of relationships ( such as Please Don’t Say You Love Me’.
All the songs have that folk -infused feel, which may be influenced by her hippy childhood, and remain quite stripped back, with various songs also incorporating group backing vocal choruses, such as ‘Ready To Question’.
‘Start Of Time’ definitely gives the album a grand finale finish, and if listeners hang on a bit longer they will find themselves rewarded with a hidden track.
While there is not much variation in terms of sound or style, both musically and lyrically, this record provides a compilation of easy- listening songs that definitely prove her talent within this genre.
