CD: Be Myself - Sheryl Crow | reviews, news & interviews
CD: Be Myself - Sheryl Crow
CD: Be Myself - Sheryl Crow
The original country pop singer takes us back to the Nineties
My ears are doing the time warp. If I close my eyes, I'm in high-heeled jelly shoes, wearing silver lipstick, and with my hair in Bjork buns – back when a satin slip dress over a T-shirt was cool as opposed to vintage.
There's a sensible reason for my nostalgia. For the first time in a long while, Crow has re-connected with her original 1990s productiom team of Jeff Trott and Tchad Blake. A track like "Alone in the Dark", with its simple chords and carefree harmonica, fuses with memories of "Everyday Is a Winding Road", while "Be Myself" has me humming "My Favourite Mistake", for which the above trio were also responsible.
"Heartbeat Away" is rocky and political, and could be used (dare I say it) in a revolutionary Pepsi ad. "Rest of Me" is arm-tiringly strumtastic and "Love Will Save The Day" makes me want to go and dig out Aimee Mann's "Save Me" (circa 1999).
"Roller Skate" is another timeline rewind – carefree and teen-style, all about sunshine and wanting some attention. It belies Crow's age and experience, in spirit. Although perhaps not in subject, as she sings about the perils of social media: "Hanging with the hipsters is a lot of hard work. How many selfies can you take before you look like a jerk?" Or in "Grow Up", which advocates "put[-ting] away technology, how about an apology, you got a lot to say but not to my face". I find myself tutting along with her about these pesky millenials, but not wanting to sing along. Be Myself might grow on me, but rather than getting into this latest album, I yearn for the first.
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