Rebecca Nicholson 

Karima Francis: The Remedy – review

Her voice can be awe-inspiring, but a conservative production job hobbles Karima Francis's new albums, says Rebecca Nicholson
  
  


The song titles on Karima Francis's second album highlight the feeling of familiarity that runs through it: it is brave to invite comparison to those other Glory Days, Stays and Crazys by borrowing their names. While it would be ridiculous to suggest this should be in the same league, there is a classic late-night, soft-rock template at play here that has mainstream US radio in its sights. It's balladeering in the Damien Rice range, buoyed by Francis's spectacular voice, though it is hard to shake the sense that some of the awe she can inspire live is muted by conservative production. Still, with a Linda Perry co-writing credit on Wherever I Go, the string-soaked Glory Days showing off those vocal athletics, and the stark Joni Mitchell ambitions of Arrest You, it's satisfying enough, and the lyrics hint at some intriguing darkness. It just needs a little more bite.

 

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