There was a moment in Corinne Bailey Rae's "Put Your Records On" where the band stopped and the British singer-songwriter paused, looked up and let a smile spread across her face before belting out, "Girl, put your records on."
Bailey Rae sold the line with such force that she makes you buy the song's self-empowerment premise and such joy that she offers a slice of the same musical healing power she's singing about.
Yeah, that's right. Don't let her fresh-faced beauty or her best new artist Grammy nomination fool you.
This Corinne Bailey Rae, she is a ringer.
The laid-back neo-soul from her "Corinne Bailey Rae" (EMI) debut may lean toward the quiet and pretty, but she is no shrinking violet. She may be Norah-adorable, like that Jones singer she is so often compared to, but there is a fire beneath Bailey Rae's cool exterior. [More...]
SETLIST: Call Me When You Get This / Trouble Sleeping / Breathless / Enchantment / Till It Happens to You / Since I've Been Loving You / Like a Star / Put Your Records On / Butterfly / I'd Like To // ENCORE: Choux Pastry Heart / Seasons Change
It flared up in the sexy, throwback soulfulness of "I'd Like To," which made the most of her nine-piece backing band. It sparked during the Björkish simplicity of "Choux Pastry Heart." But the real revelation was her reworking Led Zeppelin's "Since I've Been Loving You" into an aching, defiant soul ballad, performed with hands on hips and stomping around in her stocking feet.
It's clear that the 27-year-old singer hasn't abandoned her love of the band, which inspired her first go-round in the music business, as the teen-aged leader of the all-girl metal band Helen. It's also clear that she is in charge of her band, whether she is picking out the lead melodies on her acoustic guitar or adding percussion to some of the grander productions.
Somehow this show of strength shouldn't be surprising, but after seeing so many singers seem lost in front of a band or even in what should be their own arrangements, it still seems to be one.
Bailey Rae has lived her songs, whether it's the fragile "Like a Star," which showcases her guitar playing as well as her plaintive voice, or the set-closer "Season Change," which she said is "the closest I've got to a political song."
Opener Brendan James doesn't have Bailey Rae's songwriting skills yet, but he did have loads of likability in a short 25-minute set of pleasant piano pop from his Capitol Records debut due in May, especially in the heart-on-his-sleeve ballad "Let Your Beat Go On."
James' earnest set only highlighted Bailey Rae's subtleties and masterful performance even more. Her understated nature even came across as she celebrated her three Grammy nominations, which include record and song of the year nods for her single "Put Your Records On."
"This has been a really good week for me," she said, opening the show. "I got some really good news."
And judging from her performance, Bailey Rae will likely get some more good news when the Grammys are handed out in February.