Heave Media

Make Way for the SO(B)

Lady Sov stands alone... unfortunately she's nowhere that our ears want to be.

Lady Sovereign

Jigsaw

Released on Apr 07, 2009

It’s really a tough job to write a bad review for an album you so desperately want to enjoy and were looking forward to. Such was the task at hand after listening to Lady Sovereign’s latest release Jigsaw. The “biggest midget in the game” has released her follow up on her own label, and it sadly pales in comparison to her previous body of work.

Lady Sovereign was most apparent a few summers ago when she played a slew of festivals and had a catchy pop rap hit “Love Me or Hate Me.” The beats were danceable and fun, the lyrics were tight and cheeky, and her overall appeal was apparent on her debut full length Public Warning. Even before Public Warning Lady SOV was releasing quality tracks on Chocolate Industries, with her EP Vertically Challenged, a mix of music that was retro yet fresh, and showcased a quick and witty rapper. I thoroughly enjoyed both releases, and saw SOV live on numerous occasions, deeming her an enjoyable and promising act. Yet it seems like I sadly have to retract those statements after her latest release Jigsaw first played in my ears.

Things start off with “Let's Be Mates,” and the beats are good and promising, but the rap is lackluster. Next up is the single “So Human,” which showcases the odd decision to sample The Cure. The song isn’t horrible, but it feels off, like she is just sampling The Cure so she can say “hey everyone, check out my song where I sample The Cure!” The album progresses with the title track, and we see the addition of canned string sections backing the music, a poor choice that will sadly resurface again on the album.

Continuing on the slow landslide of a ride is “Bang Bang,” a song that starts out promising, but then completely falls apart with the annoying and obnoxious chorus. The bright spot of the album “I Got You Dancing,” is up next, with its grinding beat and heady delivery. It really is a fine track, one that is danceable, flirty, and fun. At this point I really stopped listening to songs as a whole. The album really takes a complete nosedive, and the second half is somehow even more lackluster than the first half. The beats don’t mesh with the lyrics or the delivery, and the snotty and goofy Lady Sovereign that I fell in love with a few years back is replaced with someone that sounds desperate and overproduced in her sound. There is actually a line about rubbing burger sauce around your lips being used as a sexual innuendo in one song (“Food Play”), and at that point you aren’t being kitschy or farce or funny; you’re just trying way too hard.

After a stellar EP and a solid debut, Lady Sovereign had a promising career. I was hoping her latest release would offer up the bass rattling and bombastic beats that first put her on the map, and she would have an even sharper acid tongue this time around. Sadly her charisma and infectious fun attitude has fizzled, leaving a shell of a record from a person that is struggling with who she is as an artist and the music she creates.

Posted by Lisa White on Apr 07, 2009 @ 6:30 am