On her debut album, Spirit, Simon Cowell protégé Leona Lewis’ brilliant vocal range is on full display. She’s been compared to Mariah Carey vocally, and it’s easy to see why. But Lewis’ voice is a little earthier than Mariah post-1997; though musically, the songs on Spirit echo Carey’s early MOR sensibilities. Two R&B-ish cuts that were added for release in America, “Misses Glasses” and “Forgive Me” are jarringly distant from the rest of the album. Lewis is a talented vocalist, and Spirit is a good enough album, but the vocalist has to work to put her signature on material as ‘safe’ as this. -dusty culpepper

Send this Article to a Friend
facebook