Saturday, September 8, 2012

Elle Varner: Perfectly Imperfect! Album Review

I first heard Elle Varner on my very favorite radio station, 106 KMEL. They were playing her first single, "Only Wanna Give it to You" featuring J. Cole. The song made me so happy for a number of reasons: First, J. Cole is my favorite rapper. Second, the song was SO catchy! Third, Elle Varner has this amazing raspy voice that I immediately fell in love with.
So I youtube'd her, listened to a few more songs by her, then downloaded her mixtape Conversational Lush. It's free on DatPiff, if you are interested. The mixtape was pretty good. Her voice was lovely as always, but it was NOTHING compared to Perfectly Imperfect. The lyrics were a little lacking. My favorite songs on the mixtape are "WTF," "Feel Like a Woman," and "So Fly." I could see she had some serious potential.

She is so promising, in fact, that Teen Vogue featured her! I think she is so beautiful.



Perfectly Imperfect is such a great album mostly because of how uncannily relatable it is. Of course, I am also in love her voice. She has that kind of voice that makes me really wish I could sing. As an added bonus, ALL of the songs on the album were written by her, which makes her more respectable than most artists these days...

Here's the track listing:
1. “Only Wanna Give It to You” feat. J. Cole
2. “Refill”
3. “Sound Proof Room”
4. “I Don’t Care”
5. “Not Tonight”
6. “Leaf”
7. “Oh What a Night”
8. “Stop the Clock”
9. “Welcome Home”
10. “Damn Good Friends”
11. “So Fly”

The first track I have already talked about. It's a perfect choice for a first single, if you ask me. It's cliche enough to get people to listen, but different enough to keep their attention. "Refill" is the second single, and it REALLY makes me wish I could sing. "I Don't Care" is a gorgeous song about falling in love, which is a recurring theme throughout the album.

"Not Tonight" is one of those crazy relatable songs in this album. It's a heart-wrenching ballad about not being able to tell the one you love about how you feel.

"Oh What a Night" is not particularly a creative or powerful song, but it shows Elle Varner's sense of humor. She makes it very clear that she is just like all the other women (and men!) listening to her album. You can tell she is very down to earth.

"Damn Good Friends" is probably my favorite song on the album. You can FEEL the emotion in her voice. It's about the heartbreak of being in love with a good friend. I think we can all relate.



Finally, "So Fly" is another song that showcases her sense of humor along with giving a positive message to all us insecure ladies. It ends with a message about superficial beauty...

So I decided I'm
The definition of fly
And if you want to know why
I know what money can't buy
Don't go believing the hype
There's no runway in the sky
And no way you could be fly
Not if it costs you a dime.


Favorite tracks: 1, 2, 3, 4... oh forget it. Buy the album! You won't regret it.