emeli sande our version of events zippyshare

Aberdeenshire singer-songwriter Emeli Sands voice has been a familiar sound to fans of the UK urban underground for some time now: this writer first heard it at the London grimefunkydubstep night FWD in 2009, on an unexpectedly sultry funky house version of White Towns Your Woman.

That turned out to be Wileys Never Be Your Woman, and Sands silky detachment proved the perfect foil for one of Wileys most effective character raps: terse, numbed and irritable without losing his wit.

Not that this was a reason for pessimism: Katy Bs breakthrough opened up a route for that distinction to be eroded, and in her wake followed a group of female singers who seemed as equally invested in forward-looking beats drawing on the lived experience of British club culture as in commercial success, such as Delilah and Yasmin.

Sands own Heaven positioned her within this wave: the obviousness with which it wore its influences (Massive Attacks Unfinished Sympathy, Baby Ds Let Me Be Your Fantasy, Katy Bs Broken Record) ended up feeling more like pride in that lineage.

In the end, though, it transcended them due to Sand singing the hell out of a song that concerned itself with the uncertainty and slipperiness of identity.

Pealing out of cars, windows and tower blocks last summer, Sands personal existential dilemma seemed also to capture something about the restlessness of Britain in 2011.

Heaven was a red herring, a bait-and-switch to disguise a full-length otherwise entirely composed of middle-of-the-road balladry: it turns out that Sands eyes werent so much on Katy B as Leona Lewis.

But what makes Our Version Of Events so underwhelming is that, judged by the standards it sets for itself, it is still a trite and empty work.

Otherwise, her lyrics are vague and mundane: she glosses over any details that might provide emotional resonance, and mostly shies away from any narrative perspective other than the most thunderingly obvious.

Daddy is an exception, the heartfeltness of Sands girl-to-girl advice undercut by the sense of knowing futility.

Despite her undoubted vocal talents, she doesnt possess the authority to sell the bluster of her lyrics.

She lacks the rarefied imperiousness that enables Lewis to hit upon the occasional special moment amid the blandness of her own career, but also the warmth requisite to pull off something lower-key.

Our Version Of Events is a transparent attempt to get that Adele money, and it may well succeed in that aim.

Saying no will not stop you from seeing our ads, but it may make them less relevant or more repetitive.

Emeli Sande Our Version Of Events Zippyshare