The Australian singer/songwriter who brought us one of the biggest hits of the 90's, Natalie Imbruglia is back once again with her fourth studio album, Come To Life. Ever since Left of the Middle, her debut effort, Imbruglia has missed marks. Even though Counting Down the Days hit the UK #1 spot, all the tracks in the album failed to reach the international level of Torn. On her own label, Malabar, Imbruglia worked with former husband Daniel Johns (also produced Counting Down the Days) and Coldplay frontman Chris Martin. I can't shake off the uncanny resemblance of Natalie Imbruglia to Dannii Minogue (who also happens to be Aussie) in the cover art.

My God starts off the LP nicely, building the hype and setting the mood for the rest of the album. I love the lines "You're looking for a flower but you find a tree. I'm looking for a river and suddenly an ocean is washing over me". Amazing. Lukas, probably the best in the record, is one of the tracks cowritten by Chris Martin. The song is wistful, sad, but fast-paced. Though Lukas was the song left off Coldplay's Viva La Vida album, Fun definitely has the thumbprints of Chris Martin all over it, everything from the lyrics to the song structure. Twenty is nothing special, same goes with All the Roses, which I presume are the 'fillers' for the LP. Scars is one of the better songs, a beautiful pensive ballad I reckon is'Torn 2.0'. Imbruglia turns to the aid of synthesizers in Want, a pleasantly surprising change of pace. Unfortunately, Imbruglia's other two experiments on synths, WYUT and Cameo, are not working for her vocals at all and come off uncomfortable. Wild About It, unlike what the title suggests, isn't something to go wild about at all.

The verdict: while Come To Life has some pretty great tracks, Natalie Imbruglia should stick to what she knows best— thoughtful ballads and acoustic guitars, since the industry seems to be overwhelmed with synthesizers and electronic music.



It's a little late, I know. UK release is still on May 3rd though.