That Girl - Stephanie Kirkham

...track), and can't help thinking that the giant made a rash move dropping her - because here's a girl with a great voice who has come up with some rather enjoyable if not totally unforgettable songs. Admittedly, I picked this album up extremely cheaply on Amazon Marketplace (I think for 0.01p plus p&p if memory serves!), but I would have happily paid HMV prices if needed to hear Stephanie Kirkham.

Born in Lancashire, she cites the likes ...
...tracks:

1. That Girl
2. Stay Here Close To Me
3. Inappropriate
4. When You Were Here
5. Monday Morning
6. Garden Of Dreams
7. Somebody Else's Girl
8. Heavy Boots
9. Never In A Million Years
10. Blank White Sheet

"That Girl": Stephanie's almost 'little girl' voice immediately starts to deliver wonderful sweetly-sung lyrics with poise and clarity, ... more

A fickle lot, are the big record companies - take EMI, for instance, whose Hut label signed up Stephanie Kirkham back in 2002 on the for a multi-album deal based solely on acapella demos she had forwarded. After her debut album "That Girl" didn't do as well as expected following its release in 2003, EMI closed the Hut label six months later, when she was already writing songs for her second CD.

Undeterred by this fairly substantial setback, she formed her own label and eventually released her second album, "Sunlight On My Soul", which is still available via her website. I purchased her debut disc again largely unheard (apart from the title track), and can't help thinking that the giant made a rash move dropping her - because here's a girl with a great voice who has come up with some rather enjoyable if not totally unforgettable songs. Admittedly, I picked this album up extremely cheaply on Amazon Marketplace (I think for 0.01p plus p&p if memory serves!), but I would have happily paid HMV prices if needed to hear Stephanie Kirkham.

Born in Lancashire, she cites the likes of Nick Drake, Cat Stevens, Billy Holiday, Bob Marley and Kate Bush as influencing a young girl's dreams of becoming a singer-songwriter herself one day. However, it was listening to Joni Mitchell who moved her to create music. Despite all these heavy hitters providing the inspiration, she's clearly carved out a little niche for herself in "That Girl" and hasn't traded any of her uniqueness for the sake of mass appeal. This is definitely pop - and 'dreamy' pop at that, but when it's this good, who wants to think about labels?

The CD comprises ten tracks:

1. That Girl
2. Stay Here Close To Me
3. Inappropriate
4. When You Were Here
5. Monday Morning
6. Garden Of Dreams
7. Somebody Else's Girl
8. Heavy Boots
9. Never In A Million Years
10. Blank White Sheet

"That Girl": Stephanie's almost 'little girl' voice immediately starts to deliver wonderful sweetly-sung lyrics with poise and clarity, yet there are points throughout where you just know she's itching to throw caution to the wind. There's possibly more than a hint of Dolores O'Riordan in her voice, which is enchanting and fragile at the same time. This was released as a single and apparently did fairly well as far as airplay went - though I can't actually remember it myself (and I would if I'd heard this!).

Whilst the tone quietens somewhat on "Stay Here Close To Me", her vocals hold onto the same calmness and serenity - in fact, they're so absorbing that it's almost easy to forget there's actually a backing band in play, though wisely the song trades on her voice and the percussion and drums remain as virtual whispers. It's clear that although she makes a sweet sound, there's no need to bolster it by going overboard with the arrangements - understated works just fine.

Having said all that, "Inappropriate" has a rather appropriate bouncy feel to the backing since it was probably aimed at a more radio-friendly market - but there's still a measure of restraint involved and she's not drowned out by any means. Her vocals remain pretty much the same although there's slightly more volume on the choruses - never mind the analysis in the end, though - it's still a very accessible and enjoyable few minutes.

"When You Were Here" has a definite dreamy tone to it - not only is the arrangement light and airy but her vocals rise in sympathy, threatening to make the song uproot itself and fly away before it's finished. This should be almost dismissed as a lightweight piece of fluff but actually it's very good, especially if you're in the right frame of mind for a bit of cosseting.

"Garden Of Dreams" reverts back to a more 'radio-friendly' style and echoes of Dolores O'Riordan come across strongly again. A much faster-paced song this time, yet there's no need for the backing band to compete with her vocals for attention - another song where you almost have to struggle to hear them, because you end up so focussed on her sweet delivery.

"Never In A Million Years" starts off as though it should be sung by Dochas or Julie Fowlis - I half-expected Gaelic lyrics, so traditional is the arrangement at the beginning. A quick check at the sleeve notes confirms that no, Stephanie wrote it - but it could have fooled me. In fact, she sounds a lot like Julie Fowlis on her CD "Cuilidh" as the song develops - at times it's almost uncanny. A gorgeous little song, though.... and hardly any need at all for backing: it would have worked acapella, and I bet it's one she won EMI over with originally.

Every time I listen to this CD I give myself a mental kick for not picking the album up when it was released. Can't be helped, though, and I'm content to enjoy it now - "That Girl" is a little treasure, full of gorgeously-crafted and delivered songs, ranging from the happy, bouncy "Inappropriate" to the lilting "Blank White Sheet" that rounds off this collection. Seems I'm going to have to obtain her follow-up release "Sunlight On My Soul", which is available via Amazon Marketplace for less than £3! 

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