CD Review: WHEN LOVE IS GONE, Meredith Braun

Five years after the release of her well-received album Someone Else's Story, Meredith Braun brings us a new solo work, When Love Is Gone. This release combines both specially selected songs and a couple of original numbers written by Braun herself.

Inspired by a domestic abuse storyline on popular radio drama The Archers, each song has a relationship with the next, and the greatest success on this album is the choice and arrangement of song and the lyrics within them.

Deeply emotive, the material often feels more like poetry than music. This does not take away from the musical talents of Braun as her vocals are stunning, but the words overtake everything else in a good way.

Braun can be heard playing the piano throughout the album, and her son Tiger - a student at the Royal Academy of Music - plays cello. Songs by famous composers are featured on the album, but not one of them was familiar to me. Andrew Lloyd Webber's "There's Me" from the original production of Starlight Express is heartbreaking yet empowering and this seems to be an ongoing theme.

Braun's storytelling skills come into play during Barry Manilow's "Sandra", and it is this number which made me realise that this collection of songs would also work well as a song cycle performance.

When Love Is Gone isn't the easiest listen but there will be something, no matter how small, that will be relatable for many. It is very current and Braun must be applauded for taking on such a topic and formulating it in such a way.

Meredith Braun's 'When Love Is Gone' is available now from most major music retailers and further information can be found at www.stagedoorrecords.com.

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