I’m Going Down, Follow if You Wanna

There was not a more subversive love song in recent memory then the one Sara Bareilles titled it. It screamed to be sung along to when coming on in your car. But behind the bouncy piano bop was a snarky response to her record company who wanted, well, you know. One assumes that same executive is who we have to thank for King of Anything (though I would like to think she wrote it Kanye West) which bounces around, this time with a brass band, and even snarkier lyrics perfectly visualized in the video when she holds out her hand, with a crown ring, to be kissed during the line, “Let me hold your crown babe.” This guy may be a tool, but thanks to him we have gotten some pure pop perfection from it.

King of Anything is just a sign of what is to come for her sophomore album Kaleidoscope Heart which brings a broader sound that her first outing. Hold My Heart is an anthemic balled heavy on the bass and drums. Gonna Get Over You is reminiscent of the days of girl groups complete with a nonsensical sing-along chorus.

Basket Case (not a Green Day cover) may be Sara’s most vulnerable song to date where she takes on the attributes of the title “whenever you’re gone” and trades in her piano for an acoustic guitar for much effect. She plugs in for the next song Let the Rain which starts as a ballad before exploding into a hand clapping groove. Where Love Song and King of Anything hide their vemon behind bouncy tracks, there is no hiding the distain on Machine Gun where Bareilles lets loose on the chorus “Maybe no body loved you when you were young.” You know this is the type of song you just have to hear live.

Song to Download – Machine Gun

Kaleidoscope Heart gets a on my Terror Alert Scale.