Back on the old site, I attempted an album-by-album, track-by-track journey through Shirley Bassey's discography, which ended up fizzling out. Even so, I thought I'd occasionally do the same here with Mandy's albums. Starting with the first track of the first album:
Track 1:
Planet Of Love
When I took the plunge and ordered Mandy’s debut album off the back of watching a few YouTube performances, I listened to it from start to finish (something I shamefully do less and less in recent years, as my music library has become one of shuffling and playlists).
By the time I reached the end of this first track I knew without doubt that it had been a good investment.
Beginning with an alluringly smoky jazz club mellow vibe. Mandy’s vocal is supported only by minimal instrumentation. There’s a plucked bass in the low range, and a slightly more urgent tippy-tappy sound at the top end.
Mandy’s voice is crystal clear and gentle, evoking the likes of Patsy Cline or Karen Carpenter. Even here her trademarks are included. There’s a sexy yodel or two which add a countrypolitan touch. I’m not often a fan of yodelling. Quite the opposite. Listening to almost any Leona Lewis track, for example, makes me evil because of her tremulous and liberal yelps and whines. But there’s something I can find quite attractive about country yodelling when used judiciously. And Mandy certainly ticks that box. Whatever she does, it always feels appropriate and in harmony with the track. It’s never distracting or showy.
Similarly, her elongating vowels, subtly sliding up or down with each one, adds something really special that enhances the track. It sounds disparaging to say it feels lazy and soporific, but it does: in the best possible way. It brings a dream-like quality that’s perfectly in harmony with the fantasy analogy of the lyrics:
I’ve found a new planet that only I can see. Just came back to get you, let’s leave this misery….
It’s at this point, twenty five seconds in, that the first progression happens. As Mandy stretches that final vowel sound of “misery” to breaking point, there’s a gentle strum and more instrumentation gently saunters in and Mandy’s voice subtly rises in power to match it.
Another twenty seconds or so and the same thing happens following another elongated vowel. A proper beat kicks in and way up in the background there’s a chorus of angelic voices oooh-ing away.
By the time the second chorus comes in we’re almost at full power. But because we’ve gently built up speed as we’ve gone along it’s never jarring. We’re on a pleasant little journey and, rather than suddenly flying down a slip-road onto a motorway, we’ve taken the country route.
This build up is used to great effect just after the two minute mark where much of the instrumentation drops out and starts building again. This time we go a little quicker until we reach the power note around three minutes. But even after this, the song plays with expectations by letting the chorus of voices sing us off as the song fades gently away into space.
The arrangement isn’t far away at all from Jim Lauderdale’s original version, but the impact is quite different. Jim’s vocal sounds more urgent and full-on from the beginning.
Compared with Mandy's Patsyesque rendition, he’s almost shouting those opening lyrics. When he says he “just came back to get you”, it sounds more like a drill sergeant’s order than a lover’s enticing invitation. Despite its slower pacing, Jim's version doesn't have the dreamy mellow indulgence that Mandy brought to it. Though it has to be said his version is pretty damned good. And he did write it!
As opening tracks to debut albums go, this is pretty perfect and showcases many of Mandy’s strengths as a performer. It's faithful to its source, while being a valid piece of art in its own right.
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