Katie Melua possesses one of the most sublime, enchanting voices of her generation, like that a Disney princess come to life straight off of the silver screen. It’s a gift she’s both embraced and challenged in her now decade-long career, most recently exploring orchestral pop as she did on her last album, Secret Symphony, and techno-inspired terrain as she did on the one before that, The House.
With her sixth and latest studio LP, Ketevan (Dramatico Records) — its title is the Georgian-born Melua's given first name — she recalls the demure grandeur of her debut, Call Off the Search, collaborating as she did then with longtime manager, singer/songwriter Mike Batt (formerly of the Wombles), on a ballad-rich song cycle tailor-made to her talent. Between moments of unguarded emotion (“Never Felt Less Like Dancing,” “I Never Fall”) and ones spiked with a little mettle and sass (“Love Is a Silent Thief,” “Idiot School”), Melua finesses each lyric, each syllable and breath, with utterly stunning command. In fact, everything that is exceptional about Melua’s artistry is reflected on this album.
Gifted with one of the most gorgeous, svelte voices in modern popular music, Katie Melua summons an exquisite performance with “I Will Be There,” the lead single (and official video) off her sixth studio album, Ketevan. Its lyrics reassuring like a maternal lullaby, the lush, orchestral track was composed by Mike Batt, who has managed and collaborated with Melua since signing her in 2002 to his Dramatico Entertainment. Melua premiered the song in honor and in the presence of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II during the Coronation Festival’s opening night, Thursday, at Buckingham Palace.
Ketevan, titled after Melua’s given first name upon her birth in her native Georgia, is slated for release in the UK on September 16—Melua’s 29th birthday—while no information is yet available on a North American release.
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