Natasha Bedingfield Albums (3)
What The Critics Say
The difficult second album by Natasha Bedingfield, titled N.B., was released in April 2007. Her brother Daniel had already been there with Second First Impression which was nowhere near as successful as his first album Gotta Get Thru This. Since her debut album Unwritten, a whole series of similar female singers had broken through, including Amy Winehouse, Corinne Bailey Rae and Lily Allen and this was the market Bedingfield was now competing in. The songs on NB focus on relationships from the very start of the ballad "Soulmate," the first single to be lifted from the album, about being on your own and wondering if there is a soulmate for everyone, through to "When You Know You Know" about breaking up, set to a soundtrack reminiscent of early-'70s soul bands like the Delfonics or Bloodstone (one doubts that Natasha Bedingfield knows of these groups) and another ballad, "Backyard" wondering why things can't be like they used to. The relationship theme is further developed on "How Do You Do" with the getting-to-know-you stage which opens with a strumming acoustic guitar and breaks into a brass backing throughout. The second single was "I Wanna Have Your Babies," spelling out how it feels from a feminine perspective, searching and finding the right partner and what comes next. Adam Levine of Maroon 5 contributed to the track "Say It Again" and there is rather an unnecessary rap by Eve on "No More What Ifs." "Who Knows" brings to mind Lily Allen, both in the style of the stop-start music and the storytelling lyric. "Pirate Bones" bemoans her recently found fame and celebrity status, and there is a very pretty a cappella harmony interlude, "I Think They're Thinking," it's a pity it lasts less than a minute. Like her brother, the second album was not as successful as the first, but was a solid pop album nevertheless. [NB was also released with bonus tracks.] ~ Sharon Mawer, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Natasha Bedingfield's Unwritten was a better than average slice of Top 40 ear candy buoyed by a pair of genuinely great pop singles, the self-empowerment title track, and the giddy "These Words," the most meta love song since Elton John's "Your Song." It seemed likely that the New Zealand-born, London-based singer/songwriter (the younger sister of dance-pop star Daniel Bedingfield) would be even more successful with her second album, but fate and record company politicking intervened. In early 2007, Bedingfield released a pre-album single called "I Wanna Have Your Babies," a fizzy, synthy tune that continued on the same self-conscious path as "These Words": at heart, it was a song about how the most shocking thing a woman could say (either to her boyfriend or in a pop song) was that she wanted to procreate. Although it was just a lighthearted jab at the hypersexualized nature of popular culture in the age of Paris Hilton sex tapes and paparazzi photos of Britney Spears sans culottes, the song was both generally misinterpreted and a complete commercial flop in the U.S. Bedingfield's second album, N.B., was released on schedule in the U.K. in May 2007, but Epic quietly scrubbed its American release. Later in the year, a new single, an agreeable but slightly faceless reggae-tinged collaboration with rising R&B star Sean Kingston called "Love Like This," made it into the Billboard Top 20 chart, and a slightly revised version of N.B. was announced for U.S. release, with the hit single and a new title track, "Pocketful of Sunshine," added to the album's lineup. The release was scrubbed yet again, and with each new release date, fewer songs from N.B. remained on the track listing, with the flop single "I Wanna Have Your Babies" among the first to go. In its final form as released in January 2008, Pocketful of Sunshine contains only half of N.B.'s 14 songs, with six brand new tracks. To be fair, the seven earlier songs held over are the stronger material: the spare acoustic guitar ballad "Soulmate" shows Christina Aguilera that it's possible to sound dramatic without wildly over-singing, and "Say It Again" makes good use of Maroon 5's Adam Levine as a duet partner. ("No More What Ifs," an awkward pairing of Bedingfield's chirpy and veddy proper diction with an out-of-nowhere rap by Eve that was the nadir of N.B., has thankfully been retired.) Elsewhere, "Who Knows?" and "Not Givin' Up" present a more aggressive and harder-edged version of Bedingfield closer to her brother's electronic club music, an unexpected change of pace that works quite well, recalling Kylie Minogue's more recent work. Far better than the summery charm of the hit "Love Like This," the title track is the most immediately effective of the new songs, featuring an atypically impassioned call-and-response lead vocal against an instantly catchy, gimmicky chorus. Unfortunately, the remaining four songs are the album's weakest tracks, no better or worse than the make-weight tunes that pad out the average American Idol contestant's debut. Natasha Bedingfield is a genuine pop talent who often flashes hints of a greater than average ambition that could turn her into something more substantial than the likes of Rhianna, but the awkwardly assembled Pocketful of Sunshine feels inorganic in a way that Unwritten did not, less personal and more vetted by various A&R executives. The best thing that could happen is that it's enough of a success that she gets left alone to make her third album on her own terms. ~ Stewart Mason, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
In September 2004 Natasha Bedingfield debuted smashingly in the United Kingdom. Her first record, Unwritten, went to number one almost immediately and the glowing response established her as an instant pop star. Her ascent mirrored the sudden popularity of brother Daniel Bedingfield in 2001, when his bedroom production "Gotta Get Through This" rocketed similarly up the charts. For Natasha, it's "Single" and the near-perfect "These Words (I Love You, I Love You)" -- tracks that merge the rhythms and flavors of hip-hop and R&B with unique melodies and Bedingfield's vocal confidence -- "Single," for example, suggests Kelly Clarkson's 2003 single "Miss Independent." Bedingfield co-writes all but one song on Unwritten, working with songwriters like Guy Chambers (Robbie Williams), Andrew Frampton (S Club 7), and Danielle Brisebois. And she stays remarkably poised throughout, selling some of the album's weaker arrangements with the dusky grain at the top end of her vocal. "Silent Movie" and "Piece of Me" make moves typical of pop in the 21st century -- the former actually sounds like a Williams song, while the latter tries to energize its chorus with blaring guitars. But it's Bedingfield who does the energizing, intersecting Pink's knowing swagger with the confessional exuberance of youth (typified in the blurted "I love you I love you/I love you I love you!"'s of "These Words"). Even when Unwritten emulates the trends, its tendency to play out like a personal diary put to beats and keys saves it from the soundalike pile. The bubblingly positive title track is another highlight -- "Drench yourself in words unspoken! Live your life with arms wide open! Today is where your book begins!" -- as is the soulful hip-hop of "Drop Me in the Middle," which features London MC Estelle. "I Bruise Easily" is the late-album standout, a ballad that's as epically romantic as you'd expect (keening strings, Bedingfield's voice breaking on the line "Be gentle..."), but it doesn't get out of hand, retaining the tact that the majority of Unwritten has. It's a well-made pop album for the new millennium with star quality at its center. [The U.S. edition of Unwritten added "Stumble" and the quirky "Size Matters," as well as Estelle's appearance on "Middle."] ~ Johnny Loftus, All Music Guide
