Tanita Tikaram Album: “Ancient Heart”

Although I heard, over the space of six or so weeks when I was in high school, the song "Twist in My Sobriety" played on a local rock and roll station, it was merely included in the rotation as equality fodder, sandwiched between Melissa Etheridge and the latest sappy love song by Heart. Years have passed and I find Tanita Tikaram albums dumped in clearance bins and I wonder why.

Every once in a while a musician simply happens: "Ancient Heart," Tanita Tikaram's debut Lp, on Reprise Records, redefined my expectations of popular culture. Here was a largely folk album with massive pop appeal that nobody listened to. I actually entertained myself with the notion that the music was too good for other people to get: on the internet, fans have often refused to pick a favorite album or a favorite song.

Indeed, on "Ancient Heart" there is no single track which stands out as "better" than any other, though the surprise is that no song stands out as a weak link. The eleven tracks that make up this album are polished, deliberate, individual entities which complement each other in the most subtle ways. Tikaram's vague lyrics prevent the kind of sappy nostalgia that dates music: there is no "Teen Angel" or "Don't Dream It's Over" to stamp this as a Decade of Shallow release.

It has been a decade since I first heard this album. (Wow!) There is not a song on it that is old or tired. There is not a track that I skip through. There is not a reason in the world to not put this album on "repeat" and play it all day. Best song? Pick one.

I say this record is amazing for several reasons. First, its a highly unique, personal and original piece of work. More like a piece of art, actually.

Twist In My Sobriety is fantastic and oh the almost tortured sound in Tanita's voice. Good Tradition is incredible as well. Tanita's music is so good lyrically and musically, you can't help but to get taken away by it. The music paints clear pictures, almost fantasies. The Beatles would be proud of this music, ala Sgt. Peppers or their Rubber Soul days.

Secondly, did you KNOW Tanita was, like 18 or 19 when she wrote and recorded these songs. The maturity and talent she had at that age is truly remarkable. Compare her to Britney Spears and the other teeny boppers out there. Its nice to know that it is possible to still have truly great artists who are capable of playing music, and not cheap commercial fodder for the pitiful masses, most of us have become.

I bought this as tape in 1990 and as a cd when it came out because I fell in love with "Twist of My Sobriety" especially the way that oboe toots then weaves and waffles in and out around the melody. It sends shivers all over. Oboes are not used that much in popular music. When combined with the song writing artistry heard here and the throaty voice of Ms. Tikaram, that oboe riff is outstanding.Also I can listen to "The World Outside Your Window" all day it has such a clean, bouncy sound. I don't understand why Tanita Tikaram doesn't get the accolades she deserves. I hope that changes.

Save for "Eleven Kinds of Loneliness," her first four albums were high songcraft. Lyric, delivery and melody in symmetry. "Ancient Heart" has the benefit of having her most recognizable song: "Twist in my sobriety," but other than that, any of her first three albums (Ancient Heart, The Sweet Keeper, Everybody's Angel) and find the same three elements executed consistently. These albums remind me of Van Morrison's "Poetic Champions Compose." A terrific album but not particularly differentiable from the records that came just before and after. Further, it's hard to identify a single song that speaks for the album. In other words, there is no hit single. Over time, Tikaram will be appreciated for the accumulated body of her work rather than any single song or album. I'm shocked to see several of her albums unavailable here in the US. A sad state of affairs that I hope will be fixed by numerous future releases of the quality of her previous ones.

Tanita Tikaram really sounds good on this Debut Disc.it caught me off Guard with it's Sound&Honesty.You Feel Something in Her Work.the Quality of Words&Music are here.Worth Checking into.