Reviews
Runga shines second album
Original content copyright 2002 to Halifax Daily News
Original article is at: Halifax Daily News
Date: 11 November, 2002
By: Jerry West / The Daily News
Beautiful Collision — Bic Runga (Columbia Records)
Bic Runga is somewhat of a local phenomenon in New Zealand; her first effort, 1997’s Drive, was the largest-selling locally produced album in the country’s history. Of course, that’s only 90,000 units. And with a total of 160,000 sold worldwide, she’s hardly a mega-star. She is, however, incredibly talented.
Runga took three years to make Beautiful Collision, during which time she had to become proficient on the drums, piano and guitar, and learn to produce records.
The effort paid off with an album that is as well-crafted as it is original. With her crystal-clear voice and a very organic-sounding instrumentation, Runga harkens back to the wide-eyed optimism of the 1960s of Petula Clark, but in a thoroughly modern way. Occasionally, her gentle melodies conjure up images of muppets rafting downstream.
On Gravity, she has a wonderfully whimsical image that seems to encapsulate her outlook: If gravity let us go/ We would all go flying/And I’d meet you somewhere in the milky night/Way past the satellites.
Beautiful Collision doesn’t seem like an album for the masses; it doesn’t fit into the radio mould, with the exception of the catchy single Get Some Sleep. But that probably won’t be a big problem for Runga, who seems more interested in making art than making millions.
Original content copyright 2002 to Halifax Daily News
