Despite her relatively low profile here in Australia the down-to-earth, talented and rather gorgeous Scottish singer Amy MacDonald is a superstar in her homeland and has made a significant impression on the international market. She has, for instance, sold over four million albums and appeared on US TV while her 2007 debut album, This Is The Life hit the #1 spot in the UK, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Denmark.
Life In A Beautiful Light is the 24-year-old musician’s third album and like its predecessors it features clever and passionate pop rock infused with an authentic folk‘n’roots spark and characterised by a larger-than-life sound sure to appeal to the massive audiences that flock to her concerts. MacDonald has an impressive vocal range and sings in such a natural and unaffected way that it is impossible to avoid being caught in her spell.
Lyrically the album traverses an eclectic and intriguing range of topics that includes: the joys of fast cars (Slow It Down), the rescue of the Chilean miners (Human Spirit) and the rivalries that often define football culture (The Green And The Blue). MacDonald displays her skill at generating an anthemic vibe on the buoyant 4th Of July, the rousing yet gentle Pride and the thumpingly good Slow It Down. On this excellent album, MacDonald demonstrates once again that she is a skilled purveyor of sparkling roots-pop fit for the stadium.
BY GRAHAM BLACKLEY
Best Track: Slow It Down
If You Like These, You’ll like This: I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got SINEAD O’CONNOR
In A Word: Stirring
