Beth Whitney CD Review - Yellow

An amazing collection of emotional songs
American singer/songwriter Beth Whitney is certainly a name to note for the future as her new mini album YELLOW demonstrates in abundance. From a young age it was obvious that Beth was a talented young lady. She had both musical and poetic talents. At the age of sixteen Beth was given a classical guitar, from that moment on Beth fused her two talents together and the song writer in her was born. Beth started creating music with Aaron Fishburn in 2004 when the pair met at Whitworth College. The pair were soon winning competitions with their music. In 2007 LEAVE YOUR SHOES was recorded at the Malamute Studios in Seattle. Beth and Aaron toured across the northwest before parting ways with Malamute Records. Beth and Aaron decided to follow the independent route. This year the pair, eager to release a new album, decided to search out a studio/producer. They settled upon Brandon Bee, a multi-talented artist and producer – the end result Beth’s new CD YELLOW. Beth’s main musical influences include Mindy Smith and Jennifer Knapp. Beth’s music blends together acoustic, folk and country to create something classy, quirky and most definitely interesting. Fallin’ is a vibrant country/folk song packed full of wonderful instrumentation. It is the instrumentation that brings the song to life and gives it an energy all of its own. Let’s Pretend is a more dramatic folk song infused with a heavy dash of rocky/pop. Beth’s vocals are clear and crisp throughout adding plenty of character to the song. Drove Home Slow is one of the highlights of this album. This song has a dramatic feel about it, emphasised by the heavy backing music and Beth’s forceful vocals. David is a slightly more upbeat song with a catchy hook. Beth’s vocals are vibrant on this charming number. Mary Lou is a lovely folk/acoustic song. There is a real singer/songwriter feel about this top class song. Dust and Moses has a raw organic feel. This song feels really earthy, with Beth’s vocals appearing a little more delicate than on previous numbers. The final offering Get Better is a quirky folk/country song with a charming sound. Beth’s vocals seem to transcend genres touching on both modern and more traditional styles of folk/country music. All the songs on this album were written from the heart and have a lot of emotion – both joy and sorrow interwoven within them. It is this richness of emotions that makes this collection of songs sound so amazing.