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Written
by Robert Elgin, posted by blog admin
The
EP 20/20 vision from Nashville born Natalie Estes is a four song collection
marking the emergence of a musical and vocal talent nearly unparalleled in recent
history. This young lady has emerged from near obscurity to create a work that
touches on a variety of bases while still maintaining the necessary consistent
to ensure that listeners keep coming back for more. It’s all the more remarkable
of a release considering that Estes, initially, seemed on a different path. Her
time as a dancer likely influences her intuitive sense of what her performances
require for maximum success, but she pushes the bar further than that with her
evocative and often dramatic phrasing that never robs the spotlight from the
instrumentalists. There is no predominant musical force on 20/20 Vision.
Instead, everything seems geared to frame her voice in the best possible way
and works splendidly towards serving that end.
“Until
I Do” begins the EP on a strong high note. This is a heated, but appropriately
understated, piece that has perfectly orchestrated dramatic flow. Estes tailors
her voice to the rising and falling of the music with a sure, confident touch
and her emotive phrasing helps bring to life a relatively familiar lyric in a
new, refreshing way. It’s musically dependant on piano and percussion, but the
former manifests as much percussive quality as any of the song’s drumming. “Where
There’s Smoke There’s Fire” manifests a different aspect of her sound – this is
top shelf pop, but never goes in for pandering and, instead, strikes a big band
note with strong shades of R&B bleeding through. The production helps bring
this number to even more robust life – it practically leaps out of the speakers
and shows great, across the board balance.
“Reminds
Me of You” is cut from a little more a traditional cloth than the earlier
numbers and certainly has a gentler musical
slant. Estes manifests the same gentleness with her vocal, but there’s still
much here that speaks to her individual talents and reshapes familiar forms
into something new. There’s a nice edge to her voice on this tune that
definitely prevents it from ever slipping into traditionally sophomoric pop
balladry. “Bad Game” closes 20/20 Vision with a lot of verve and has that same finesse
characterizing much of the EP, but a sharper tempo that concludes 20/20 Vision
on a decidedly uptempo note. It’s a great finale to a brief collection that,
despite its short length, shows impressive maturity and artistic development.
Natalie Estes hits it out of the park with 20/20 Vision and sets the table nicely
for her future.
Grade:
A
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