Fefe Dobson – Joy

I didn’t think I would write about the latest Fefe Dobson record “Joy” but here we are. Ever since her debut album, I’ve respected Dobson as a songwriter. Her lyrics can be a little teenage-y, but her singles have great melodies and are very strong pop songs. I like her cool rocker chick persona/image as well, and she isn’t as irritating as Avril – although their music can be quite similar.
Her latest album “Joy” is kind of odd for me. There are some amazing tracks like “Ghost” or “Didn’t See You Coming”, but interspersed in the album are some Miley-style/Disney star songs. A quick Wiki put it all into context for me. After her first album, she kind of disappeared for a while due to label issues, but she ended up “giving” her songs from her unreleased (shelved?) 2nd album to a bunch of Disney popstars. The album switches from tracks that you would find on a really good Kelly Clarkson album, back to some sort of filler track you might find on Miley’s next album.

It’s really frustrating listening to an artist like Dobson, who has so much potential, wasted on weak tracks that will probably be used in the next Amanda Bynes movie (nothing against Bynes, She’s the Man is an awesome movie) – but you know what I’m getting at.

Having said that, it’s nice to see Dobson back on the scene, finally releasing an album (I saw it for $7.99 at HMV the other day. Well worth it at that price point I should say). The 2nd half of the album goes for the more straight up rocker chick tracks, (but nothing comes close to “Ghost” for me) and they are much preferred over the Disney tracks like “Thanks for Nothing”. To be fair, the album is actually track for track, very strong. Welcome back, Fefe!

~ by jarira on December 2, 2010.