Natasha Bedingfield – Pocketful Of Sunshine (2008)

Pocketful Of Sunshine by Pocketful Of Sunshine

See Natasha Bedingfield’s Biography

About the Album “Pocketful Of Sunshine”
If you were a U.K. resident in 2004, you couldn’t dig a post-punk hole deep enough to muffle the sounds of one Natasha Bedingfield. The pop songstress, younger sister of pop, um, songster Daniel, dropped “These Words” on an unsuspecting Isle, and everyone from North London scenesters to grizzled pub regulars was soon crooning along to a hook aimed straight at the teenage girl demographic. But any shame they felt was counteracted by a measure of gloating. America wasn’t going to know what hit it.

As it turned out, “These Words” was outpaced Stateside by Bedingfield’s title track, “Unwritten,” thanks to the latter’s placement on MTV “scripted reality” show The Hills. In this country, anyway, the teenage girls got their say. But really, both songs cover the same point: This young lady can make pop work. Her hooks have real bite, her rhythms have just enough club punch, and her effervescent delivery somehow makes cheesy, even trite sentiments. “Drench yourself in words unspoken/ Live your life with arms wide open”, feel, if not exactly deep, at least sincere.

What you think of sophomore disc Pocketful Of Sunshine depends largely on how you viewed Unwritten. The question isn’t whether you liked it (despite what you’re telling the guys at the pub, you did), but whether you viewed it as truly ideal pop or simply a smartly crafted turn on essentially disposable stuff. This album doesn’t wow with head-sticking choruses, a la Unwritten, but it does prove Bedingfield’s got some real heft, bubblegum lyrics notwithstanding. There’s an increased R&B and soul presence, and the singer deftly handles both tricky syncopation and a broad dynamic range. For all her sweet high melodies, she can do rich and dreamy (as on the nostalgic “Backyard“) or tough and brassy (the drum-driven “Piece Of Your Heart“).

This clearly stems, at least in part, from an urge to project a more adult image. Last time around, Bedingfield was singing about her life as blank page, or getting giddy over the words “I love you.” Now, she’s introspective, the youthful angst is replaced by a focus on real relationships. The choice of “Soulmate” as a lead track reflects this. It’s slower and darker, clean guitar and swooning piano signifying maturity. The lyrics are still a little stilted, “Most relationships seem so transitory/ They’re all good but not the permanent one”, but the growth feels real.

 

Pocketful Of Sunshine

 

Pocketful Of Sunshine album tracklists are:

Put Your Arms Around Me

Pocketful Of Sunshine

Happy

Love Like This [Ft Sean Kingston]

Piece Of Your Heart

Soulmate

Say It Again

Angel

Backyard

Freckles

Who Knows

Pirate Bones

Not Givin’ Up

 

Buy the CD album Pocketful of Sunshine

Full Mp3 Downloads Pocketful Of Sunshine

 

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This entry was posted on Monday, July 7th, 2008 at 3:43 am and is filed under Pop. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.