REVIEW: LEFT OF THE MIDDLE (People Magazine, 04/13/98)
The last foreign-born ex-TV actress to crash upon our shores with songs of female angst was named Alanis Morissette. Now comes Imbruglia, a former teenage star of the hit Australian soap Neighbours, who launched her pop career on MTV with a spicy video of her debut ditty, "Torn". Already a multimillion-selling single in Europe, the song finds the waifish beauty of Italian descent trilling lines such as "I'm cold and I'm ashamed/lying naked on the floor". Like Morissette, the 23-year-old Imbruglia sounds vexed by men and her own tendency to fall into unhappy, dependent relationships. In declaring her independence, she looks back angrily, dealing lyric bruisings to ex-lovers in such songs as "Big Mistake" and "Leave Me Alone". This is an impressive debut, to be sure. But Imbruglia never quite attains Morissette's heights of impassioned fury. Call it Alanis Lite. (--- Steve Dougherty, 04/13/98)
REVIEW: LEFT OF THE MIDDLE (EventCal)
Prediction: if you haven't already heard the song "Torn" on your local top 40
radio station, you will soon. Sung by 22 year old Natalie Imbruglia, it's as close
as you'll find to a guaranteed hit. The song is currently number one on the
European pop charts, where it was released in October, and it was
recently put in heavy rotation on MTV in the US.
Attention is nothing new for Imbruglia, who starred in the Australian hit TV show "Neighbours." She also had a much-publicized affair with "Friends" star David Schwimmer. But according to Imbruglia, her album is much more than the typical over produced star vehicle. "I don't think my album is what you'd expect. It's about integrity. I couldn't get on stage and sing a cute pop song and do a dance routine. I love what the Spice Girls do, but I'd die if I had to do it - I'm too shy to jump around like that."
Indeed, fans of "Neighbours" might not even recognize Imbruglia, whose personal style is decidedly different from that of "Beth," her character on the show. While Beth had long hair and was often seen in a bikini, Imbruglia herself is a tomboy of sorts with a short pixie-ish haircut. Mind you, she's also stunningly beautiful, which should also serve to distinguish her from the Spice Girls.
Imbruglia's album, "Left of the Middle" will be released March 24th in the US, but you can preview clips from the album thanks to the many fan sites dedicated to Natalie Imbruglia in Europe, where "Left of the Middle" was released last September. (--- author unknown, EventCal)
REVIEW: LEFT OF THE MIDDLE (Boston Phoenix, March 5-12, 98) A newcomer from Australia, Imbruglia sings torchy Europop and
actressy modern rock in a tiny soprano reminiscent of Toronto homegirl
Alanis Morissette. But where Morissette sings about the ironies of
material abundance in a life of romantic frustration, Imbruglia sings
about the limited availability of romance and her desire to have it all
the time. The soul and its desires are Imbruglia's focus; danceable
beats underpin most of her songs. Thus she moves brightly through
both the enigmatic fissures of "Big Mistake" and "Don't You Think?" and
the dreamy, trouble-free Europop of "Impressed," "Torn," and "One
More Addiction." And if this last title and the lyric details of "Leave Me
Alone" and "Pigeons and Crumbs" all cast doubt on just how easy
Imbruglia imagines romance to be, the childlike smoothness of her
soprano amid the rough cuts of her guitar and synthesizer support
promises that, where her heart's concerned, everything will be all right -- some day.
(-- Michael Freedberg, Boston Phoenix)
REVIEW: LEFT OF THE MIDDLE (Vancouver Sun, 03/14/98)
This 23-year-old beauty, who is now conquering the U.K. pop charts, is one of a truckload of female pop stars enjoying too much success for merely passable music.
While often lush and pretty, there is nothing remotely refreshing to capture anyone's interest beyond the somewhat catchy hit single Torn.
Imbruglia's voice is of the breathy, growly and overly earnest type, the quintessential Everyvoice of the moment. The album toys with a few programming effects, big washes of guitar and dreamy soundscapes that flirt timidly with trip hop and ambient music.
If beat-driven mood music with a bluesy voice turns your crank, pick up a Portishead album instead. (--- Kerry Gold, Vancouver Sun)
REVIEW: LEFT OF THE MIDDLE (MTV Online)What's a girl to do?
If you're former Australian soap star Natalie Imbruglia (the "g" is silent), you move to London for awhile and become a veritable overnight recording star.
This petite songstress has had very few things working against her imminent success (which is already soaring in the U.K.), but let's list them anyway. For one, she's very pretty, almost fawn-like with giant blue marble eyes and overripe lips, therefore some may be less inclined to take her seriously as an artiste. Secondly, Imbruglia was already famous in England and Australia due to her role on the Down Under soap fest, Neighbours. Soap actress turned pop star? That can be a little yucky. But then again, this sort of thing didn't hurt Alanis Morissette, who was a teen celeb in Canada before unleashing her Jagged Little Pill upon the masses. Oh, and Imbruglia was recently romantically linked with Friends' puppy dog star, David Schwimmer, but heck, we won't hold that against her either. We've all made mistakes.
Add this up, spinning potential flaws into assets, and you've got a solid recipe for a pop star. The musical result is Left of the Middle. Imbruglia's liquid smooth voice releases the occasional edge in songs like "Impressed" and "Big Mistake," and the talents of producers like Nigel Goodrich (Radiohead's OK Computer) and Mark Goldenberg (The Eels) are put to good use. Imbruglia's debut album has Britain by the throat. They're mad for this 23-year-old import. Can the U.S. be far behind?
Nope. Imbruglia appeared on Saturday Night Live on March 7, before the release of her album -- no small feat and unprecedented for a new artist. Expect Lilith Fair and People Magazine's "50 Most Beautiful People" nods before you can spell "Imbruglia" backwards.
There's a definite buzz about Imbruglia, though she's not exactly the next Fiona Apple, who is overwrought with dark talent. Left of the Middle hits many pop highs, such as "Torn," and sports moody candlelit melodies in songs like "Leave Me Alone." The album runs the gamut of musical emotions, from anger to sarcasm, but the pop is always present. The track "Intuition" may say it all about this new singer and her ambitions, even if the song isn't intentionally autobiographical: "She wants her fifteen minutes of fame/But twenty would be nice."
Imbruglia's fifteen minutes have already extended beyond your average flash-in-the-pan, leaving her left of the middle and heading straight to the top of the pops.
-- Alexandra Flood (MTV Online)
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