ALLEN. His music conveys contentment.
You can’t blame singers for coming up with unconventional ways to drum up interest for their new albums: Two years ago, to promote “Thank You, Camellia,” Kris Allen invited his followers to an impromptu concert at the Santa Monica pier with a cryptic tweet: “Who wants to go to the beach and watch some guy play a couple of tunes? Hear he’s OK.”
After singing “Live Like We’re Dying” and his covers of the hits of Justin Timberlake, Katy Perry, Rihanna and Lady Gaga, the 29-year-old American Idol’s “spontaneous” show was stopped by cops in the middle of “Should I?”—because the high-profile busker didn’t have a permit to perform!
Allen’s latest album, the self-penned and self-produced “Horizons,” doesn’t have lofty ambitions—but, it benefits from the same easygoing attitude that led to that spur-of-the-moment set on the beach. The 10-track album is a satisfying mix of feel-good pop, folk and country music.
The guitar riffs are light, bright and catchy, but the themes he tackles are far from disposable. In his intimate tunes, Kris doesn’t sing about tortured lives and bleeding hearts, but his honesty is just as revealing: His wistful longing smolders as he sings about lost opportunities in “Girl Across The Room,” and sings about unmet expectations in “Lost”: “Maybe I’m lost/ But at least I’m looking.”
There’s inspiring optimism in “In Time”—especially in the wake of the recent car accident that broke his wrist, as well as the shocking death of 35-year-old former “American Idol” finalist, Michael Johns, early this month.
Fatherhood has given Allen contentment (his son, Oliver Neil, turned 1-year-old last month), as the breezy country swagger and lyrics of “Beautiful & Wild” attest: “I don’t want to be president, ‘cause I don’t know which side to take/ I don’t want to be a fortune teller, ‘cause that’s just tempting fate/ I just want to be a drop of water/ Fall down in a storm of rain/ Live a life in the deep blue sea/ And rise back up again.”
And, if you want the boyish singer to lead you to the dance floor, the groovesome “Everybody Just Wants To Dance” is guaranteed to get you in a frisky, swinging mood.
LUSTRE (RIGHT). Pours her heart out in self-titled debut album.
Nadine’s time to shine
Nadine Lustre’s second movie with James Reid, “Talk Back and You’re Dead,” may be a confounding jumble of narrative inconsistencies, but it has its producers striking gold at the tills—thanks to the teens and tweeners who shriek their heads off every time Tinseltown’s latest young tandem, JaDine, breaks up then makes up onscreen.
In her self-titled solo debut album, Lustre is served well by talented musicians and arrangers: Thyro Alfaro, Yumi Lacsamana, Bojam de Belen, Pow Chavez, Paulo Madrid and Gianina del Rosario.
If you liked “Paliguy-ligoy” from the “Diary ng Panget” soundtrack, the songs here are just as entertaining, albeit generic-sounding. And, even when the tracks’ digitized melodies aren’t as catchy, they’re made instantly attractive by distinctive arrangements that help fortify the lineup’s bubblegum gloss.
The singer-actress pours her heart out as she sings about unrequited love (the hit carrier single, “Para-paraan,” “Mr. Antipatiko” and “Aba, Bakit Hindi?”) and forbidden romance (“Bahala Na,” with James Reid demonstrating his flair for R‘n’B). Then, “You & Me” wraps up the disc with a fun romp that will get Nadine’s K-pop-weaned followers wired and stoked—even if the song she’s singing is about heartbreak!