Easily my most unexpected comeback of the year was Sinead O'Connor. I was certainly not anticipating a return to the pop/rock genre and, even had I been, no way could I have imagined an album as good as this. One of the greatest female voices in popular music came back with a vengeance on How About I Be Me (And You Be You)?, the #12 album in my Best of 2012. My original review is below.
Favorite tracks: "Queen Of Denmark", "Reason With Me", "V.I.P.", "Take Off Your Shoes"
After forays into reggae, folk and spiritual music, Sinead O'Connor returns to the pop/rock forum that brought her fame, and oh what a return it is. How About I Be Me (And You Be You)? is O'Connor at her best. Bold, brash, profane, spiritual, vulnerable, a woman in complete control of her craft and one of 2012's finest albums so far.
Forget her past controversies, forgive some of her more outlandish comments, I've always had an insane amount of respect for Sinead. And there is no denying that gift of a voice she possesses. Here, she has the material that does that voice justice, running the gamut from pure pop/rock to lush ballads to a stunning cover that steals the album.
Despite a lifetime of seemingly rocky relationships, there are a number of downright upbeat proclamations of love and happiness expressed by O'Connor starting with opening track "4th And Vine". The Irish inflected pop song has O'Connor marrying 'the sweetest man you could find", while the sensational "Old Lady" has her so giddy over the object of her affection, she longs for the day he makes her 'laugh like an idiot, not be so serious'. There is a longing to grow old with someone in the lyrics and it's undeniably the catchiest rock track on the album.
"Reason With Me" is without a doubt the loveliest ballad here, a grand, orchestral backed plea for compromise in a relationship. "Back Where You Belong" and "Very Far From Home are both smoldering guitar led power ballads that round out the slower material nicely.
But it wouldn't be a Sinead O'Connor album without a heavy helping of emotionally raw, darker material and three tracks stand out. "Take Off Your Shoes" is a moody rock piece fuelled by anger. "V.I.P." is O'Connor stripped bare, just a stunning vocal performance of a poem she published in 2010 set to an ambient backing. In it, she lashes out at celebrity culture and much of mankind's unwillingness to help each other and the lack of compassion that permeates too much of our society. She sings, 'Who are we to give that name to us? When we don't know the lives of others. When we can barely raise a finger to help our own sisters and brothers' before she asks of the listener how God will judge them when their time comes. 'Or did you stand for something else, besides the hankering for fame and famousness. The one who always was and always is, will show you what a real V.I.P. is.' It's an absolutely brilliant lyric and impassioned song.
Her cover of John Grant's "Queen of Denmark" is equally remarkable, turning his biting piano ballad into a vocal tour de force, at times quivering, then suddenly spitting with anger as hard guitars kick in during the chorus. 'I don't know what to want from this world, I really don't know what to want from this world. I don't know what it is you wanna want from me, you really have no right to want anything from me at all. Why don't you take it out on somebody else? Why don't you bore the shit out of somebody else? Why don't you tell somebody else that they're selfish? A weakling, coward, a pathetic fraud.' she snarls. Grant may have written the lyrics, but if ever a cover fit an artist perfectly, it's this one for O'Connor and she owns it.
There is really not much else to be said, How About I Be Me (And You Be You)? is an artistic triumph from start to finish. Sinead O'Connor never left us, but it is nice to have her back making pop/rock music of such high caliber. Truly destined to go down as one of 2012's best.
How About I Be Me (And You Be You)? was released February 21, 2012 on the One Little Indian label.
Official Website of Sinead O'Connor
Purchase How About I Be Me (And You Be You)? from Amazon.com
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