At long last the wait is over – a new EP from Carolynne Willey ( nee Poole) now joining the ranks of Madonna and Adele and being known by just the one name!. After playing some successful warm up shows last year in London, as well as making appearances at C2C 2016 and Buckle & Boots some recorded product is now available for her many fans. Never short on talent, just requiring a concerted effort to try and establish herself in the hearts and minds of UK country fans.
Initially the thought of opening the 5 track EP with a cover of the Supremes “Stop In The Name Of Love” did not seem inspiring, but this slowed down, countrified reinterpretation works really well. It gives Carolynne a chance to show her vocal abilities and lets you really concentrate on the hurt and pain in the lyrics.
The next track, the punchy “Cupid Must Have Been High” is an uptempo number, with some neat guitar work and backing vocals. The song looks for a reason of how two people unsuited for each other somehow ended up with each other. Once again Carolynne’s voice is given free range to show off its talents.
“Real Man” kicks off with a guitar riff that leads into a rocker, with some snazzy lyrics as she bemoans the lack of real men in this world, she’s after quite a range of men, “a Christian Gray or a Justin Timberlake!”. It comes with a big production and could easily be mistaken for coming from the US. It’s a good time country song, that can’t help but bring a smile to your face. There’s some neat lines about “the walking dead” and “catfish” which give it a nice modern feel.
Things slow a little with “Let Me Unlove You”, where one side of the relationship needs time to get over it to allow for “closure”. Carolynne starts this in a slower, more sultry mode before really letting rip as the song develops.
The title track “Coming Back To Me” is the closing song of the EP, a slow burner of a song that starts as gentle guitar track backing Carolynne before it morphs into a thumping drum driven extravaganza which vocally she really has to move into top gear to stay on top of
Undoubtedly a talented singer, this EP and a clutch of forthcoming live dates should certainly introduce her to a wider audience