Gemma Ray, Island Fire

Gemma Ray
Island Fire
(Bronze Rat)
[Rating: 3.5 stars]

All it’ll take is the right song and a savvy PR machine to make UK chanteuse Gemma Ray the next Amy Winehouse; a retro leaning soul/pop singer with distinctive vocal chops and a sense of the past that gracefully translates into the present. If there is any justice, her fourth album will do the trick with an ambitious even audacious widescreen, sometimes orchestrated approach that makes her sweeping melodic, 60s influenced material soar out of the speakers. She pens unique, inspired tunes that borrow from a filmic perspective, arranged with a deft Phil Spector meets Shadow Morton touch. Don’t let this sweet, fiery gem slip away.