Brittany Knox - Halfway There[Extended Play]by Daniel Antherstein
Stephanie Fierce and Miss Vanity currently stand at the top of the Pop Music Genre. They are shifting with the times and trying to turn from Eye-Candy into Artists that we can relate to. Real people. The problem with that is, after two or more successful albums running off that gimmick, can we see that shift? Brittany Knox is a pop star who gained infamy for her skin-filled debut "Mannequin". With the lip-gloss and nail polish flood, people called her out on the artificial tones of her songs while she still had the potential to be a good artist. That represented a turning point for the girl and now she's back, as a respectable artist who wants nothing more than to make good music, not mall tours but actual tours.
"Halfway There" is that turn from Eye Candy to Artist and it's already got fans raving. When I got my hands on the Extended Play I wanted to see if this change was actual or just a farce in sheep's clothing.
It all begins with lead off single, "Truce" which acts as a reach out to her naysayers to give the new Knox a chance. A truce for a mutual appreciation of music and the like. Knox's already shining vocals mixed with better lyrics about more appealing subject matter made this song an apt introduction to the album. While it might not be a radio hit, I think she might've put her foot into the alternative door. The E.P. then moves to the title track, "Halfway There". The lyrics in this song aren't the best and the guitar work is just barely passable. It ended up lowering my bar for the E.P.
"Underwater" is the third track and it's a bad song period. Knox is good when singing about serious subject manner, don't get me wrong but this turned into a rant-like drone which I didn't really enjoy. She needs to get some known musicians to help out with her instrumentals more. The generic sounds of the touring members aren't helping much. "My Own Enemy" maintains the downbeat feels of the third song and that again hurts it. The instrumentals in this song are a bit better so it isn't a complete loss.
Fifth on the E.P. is "Me Against The World" and I'm noticing that the album is going to be like this so I might as well make the most of it. The thing about "Me Against The World" is that I kinda liked it. Brittany's quick fire singing was almost rapping but not there yet and the balance in between was a nice change of pace. I like that kind of diversity in my music. "Nobody's Girl" is a song that suffers from bad guitars again as Brit's singing was on point.
"Speak" is the seventh song of the E.P. and it's a fun upbeat dance song similar to Natasha Bedingfeld's "These Words". I liked it because it contained a message but still had a fun little beat, it had a good unity of Style, Playfulness and Serious Undertones. The E.P. rolls to its end with the final song, "Confessions(from the Bad Girl)". It's a good song because it lets Brittany give out feelings not about a certain group of people or anything but herself. The vocals are yet again stunning and that helps the track since it's not weighed down by sloppy instrumentals.
Tracks to Spin -
Speak - Upbeat Dance Song mixed with Serious Undertones.
Truce - Like singing along with a page from Brit's diary.
Me Against The World - Not Alt. Pop, not New-Wave more like Spoken Word or Poetry and I dug it.
Confessions(from the Bad Girl) - Continuation of Truce and gives me more of what I want.
All in all Brit's not a mannequin anymore but she isn't quite at a large enough level yet. She needs a full-on backing band that knows what their doing. It's a good E.P. but the downbeat slow tunes felt out of place, it's like when a person says sorry too much. It loses its effect. Now that we know that you're moving on Brittany, we can see your real musical prowess. Hopefully this just acted as a basic prologue to her inevitable second album.
7/10