Assorted sounds from Corrine May, Temper Trap and Karmin

Crooked Lines by Corrinne May. A Corrinne May album is always a treat. Her angelic voice and effortless style make me think of those soul divas with acrobatic vocals as trying hard wannabes. Listen to her and I am sure you, too, will agree that if you have the voice, all that you need are lilting melodies and heartfelt lyrics to keep your listeners enthralled.

I have always looked forward to Corrinne May’s albums ever since I found out that she made her debut composing the melody to lyrics co-written by the legendary Carole King and Carol Bayer Sager. The promise she evinced with that experience has manifested itself with one enjoyable album after another over these past years. In fact, her every CD is an improvement from the last one. Crooked Lines, inspired by her young daughter’s drawings and her first in five years, is her best.

What I hear in the album is Corrinne May stepping out of her laid-back comfort zone into experiments with playful pop and dreamy country sounds and because she is now a mother, also lullabies. Lazarus, 24 Hours, Beautiful Life, You Believed and Because Of Love show new rhythmic patterns and other-worldly celtic influences. Crooked Lines, When I Close My Eyes, Pinocchio, Just What I Was Looking For and Sight Of Love are her usual sweet songs. Your Song and If You Ask have her reaching out with her vocals. Very nice. But loveliest of all is In My Arms. Nobody really outgrows lullabies.

The Temper Trap by The Temper Trap. You may not remember the band but I am sure you remember the song, Sweet Disposition, from the soundtrack of the bittersweet romance 500 Days of Summer. That song was so popular I heard it a lot from the radio and also in some TV shows like Greek and One Tree Hill. It turned out that it was by this rock band The Temper Trap which has Indonesian members, works out of London, but originated from Australia where they are the top group of the moment.

The Temper Trap is made up of Lorenzo Silletto on lead guitar; Joseph Greer, keyboards and guitar; Jonathon Aherne, bass; Toby Dundas, drums; and Dougy Mandagi, vocals. Everybody does a great job making soaring rock music to scream to but it is Mandagi’s wide-ranging, graceful and passionate tones that set the band apart. This guy is at par with the great rock vocalists and the new CD shows him at his best.

I see no Sweet Disposition in the album. This one is more epic in approach and the band’s increased musicality is in evidence throughout. Need Your Love is the first single release but the best of the lot is Trembling Hands, which has the makings of a rock classic. Also included in the all-original line-up composed by Temper Trap are London’s Burning, The Sea Is Calling, Miracle, This Isn’t Happiness, Where Do We Go From Here, Never Again, Dreams, Rabbit Hole, I’m Gonna Wait and Leaving Heartbreak Hotel.

Hello by Karmin. How nice to hear from this group again. I am sure that a lot of you are familiar with Karmin. This is the duo made up of Amy Heidemann and Nick Noonan, whose song Crash Your Party, a new take on the theme of You’re So Vain lifted them out of the indie set. Now signed to the Epic label, its new album Hello is generating a lot of buzz with its potential for several hit singles.

Karmin started out recording covers of current hits and then putting videos out in YouTube. It got the jackpot in the viral universe when it did Look At Me Now by Chris Brown, which, with over 200 million hits, to this day is still one of the most viewed videos of all time. Public reaction towards Karmin was so positive, that it was named the New Media honoree at both the American Music Awards and the Web Born Star at the MTV O Music Awards last year. It is once more up for trophies at the Teen Choice Awards this week.

An appealing mix of pop, dance and hip-hop, Hello already has one biggie out, the hook-filled Brokenhearted. Expected to follow next is I Told You So. Then there are Walking On The Moon, Too Many Fish, I’m Just Sayin’, Coming Up Strong and Hello. Take note that these songs are all originals composed by Nick and Amy and other collaborators. No more covers for these guys.