theaudience - theaudience (1998)

Long before Sophie Ellis-Bextor jumped on the dance-pop bandwagon and launched her extremelly sucessful solo career, she was part of a short lived band called Theaudience.

Released during the peak of the britpop era, this is as far removed from the bripop sound that a British act could get. Indie, jangly and eclectic is the overall vibe of the album. I got to hear this in late 1999. Devouring music magazines the way I did back then, this album came highly recommended. What grabbed my ears attention when the superb ''A Pessimist Is Never Disappointed'' kicked off was Sophie's lived-in and unique sounding voice. Other highlights include ''I Know Enough (I Don't Get Enough)'', ''If You Can't Do It When You're Young; When Can You Do It?'' and the magnificent ''The More There Is to Do''. Overall there is no weak track on the album. A shame that this act was short lived, as it would have been interesting to see where they would have taken it next. This album became one of my favourite releases during that period. Having recently revisited it for this review, it still holds up after all these years.