Amy’s refined new songwriting approach has been grafted onto some of the most astonishing, stunning material of her short career so far. Her fearlessness as a lyric writer has no peer.
While other girls of her young vintage - she’s still only 22 - like to turn a comic motif out of their relationship histories or deal in generic pop emotions, she smarts at the idea of being anything less than brutally honest, yet funny too.
That’s the essence of “Back to Black”; it’s built around the classic 3-minute pop motif, nothing is over-egged. “Back To Black” is a coherent piece, built for listening in one sitting. Amy is (very publicly), untangling her mess, finding her true spirit and learning to break loose from the demons that have followed her.
She’s doing it all with a smile on her face. “Back To Black”, with its stunning array of loosely strung, funk-inflected joints sees her finally getting to a good place with herself.