11022015 - Rumer "Into Colour"

Funny. Yesterday's album was called "Blackbirds", and the intro track to this album is called "Return of Blackbird". Some coincidence, eh? For some reason I had thought that Rumer was another Dido-esque yawnstress, but the disco-light groove of opening track "Dangerous" gives me more of a Rita Coolidge vibe - light, breezy, catchy and cool. The next song has more of a Carpenters ballad-y feel, so I guess we're dealing with a modern day Olivia Newton-John, which is fine by me. She even ventures off into Sade territory from time to time, and I have no problem with that either. This is background music, though. Even after three listens in a row I fail to get hooked on anything here, apart from that first song. It's really very pleasant once I stop concentrating on the music and let it drift off into the background and then, all of a sudden, find myself nodding along. However, once I start trying to focus on the music, it's impossible to find anything to grab onto. It's like one of those pictures that just seem blurry when you look straight at it, but once you let your focus slip you get the point. My conclusion is that while Rumer is nowhere near as good as her influences, she's far from bad, but this is an album for when you just want a pillow, not for when you want to concentrate on the actual music. Is that good or bad? You decide.