FAVORITE ALBUM #2

#2 TRIP THE LIGHT FANTASTIC / SOPHIE ELLIS-BEXTOR [taste] [buy]

key tracks: catch you / me and my imagination / if i can't dance / if i go / today the sun's on us

well, what can i say about sophie ellis bextor that i haven't already said? not a whole lot, so i'll just say that after two fairly mediocre albums, sophie ellis-bextor wholly and completely redeemed herself as a solo artist [for the uninitiated, she did vocals for the 90s britpop band theaudience. she was a mere 18 years old at the time. theaudience was pretty good, but only lasted one album and one e.p.]. she's occassionally show flashes of greatness in the past with songs like 'murder on the dancefloor' and 'i won't change you,' but her albums suffered from subpar production that left the bulk of her solo work sounding like cheap, early 1990s club retreads.

with 'trip the light fantastic' however, she's found a new sense of urgency and energy, relying more on a contemporary and sophisticated eurodisco sound, and the payoff was immense. it was also incredibly smart to bring cathy dennis in to pen a few a tracks [cathy dennis has written songs for rachel stevens, emma bunton, ronan keating, kelly clarkson, clay aiken, the spice girls, s club 7, kylie minogue, etc, etc, etc], including the blistering first single, 'catch you.' it was a pretty clear sign sophie had ditched her dubious musical past and was ready to enter the ring with the pros. it also sported a great video of sophie running around in a red flamenco dress, which, you know, is 23 kinds of awesome. 'me and my imagination' was a superb second single, followed by 'today the sun's on us.' it's been rumored that 'trip the light fantastic' might spawn a fourth single in 'if i can't dance' [probably the album's most dynamic track], and i can only hope it does because that means new remixes and a new video.

and if you think the fact that sophie ellis-bextor is about the most beautiful woman in the world has something to do with her placing at #2, you're 1000% correct. if she weren't already married, i'd seriously consider moving to london.