Album Review: Places - Lea Michele

Lea Michele is a singer, songwriter, actress and author from New York, US. She started out as a child actress on Broadway, appearing in multiple productions, including Les Miserables. From there on, she starred in a variety of Broadway shows.

In 2009, she starred as Rachel Berry on the hit musical comedy-drama show, Glee. She won a number of awards for her portrayal of this character. Some include, Teen Choice Awards, Golden Globe and an Emmy Award.

In 2010, alongside the rest of the cast of Glee, Lea embarked on a musical tour of the United States. A year later, the tour expanded to include North America, England and Ireland. She later appeared in the hit film, New Year's Eve, portraying Ashton Kutcher's love interest.

In 2013, Lea released the first single, 'Cannonball', from her upcoming debut album, 'Louder'. In the lead up to the release, she released four promotional singles, 'Battlefield', 'Louder', 'What Is Love?' and 'You're Mine'. The album debuted at number four on the Billboard 200.

She went on to voice the lead role of Dorothy Gale in the animated musical film 'Legends of Oz: Dorothy's Return'. In May 2013, she signed with Harmony Books and Random House to write and release 'Brunette Ambition'.

From 2015, she played the role of Hester Ulrich, in the horror-comedy series, Scream Queens. From the beginning of 2017, Lea began recording the second studio album, 'Places'.

Track Listing:

1. Love Is Alive

2. Heavy Love

3. Proud

4. Believer

5. Run To You

6. Heavenly

7. Anything's Possible

8. Getaway Car

9. Sentimental Memories

10. Tornado

11. Hey You

The first song on this album is 'Love Is Alive'. I really like the piano in it. It reminds me of an old Disney song, but which, I have no idea! The vocals are effortless, as expected, and I really like that her vocal range is so versatile, she really shows it in this song. It is quite a slow, emotional song, and is simple, yet catchy. The only criticism is that I don't think it was the best song to open the album with.

'Heavy Love' is the second song. It begins quite slow but throughout the song, it picks up. I thought the orchestral vibe to it was a nice added touch. Once again, the vocals ranged and I liked the lyrics. The beat differs it from the first song, and overall the music makes it quite dramatic, which I feel fits with her 'star persona'.

'Proud' is one of my personal favourites on the album. It, once again, has the added piano. The song is slow and the vocals are very much the focus for this song. I like the lyrics, they are quite emotional and sound quite personal. They are also very easy to pick up/remember.

The fourth song is 'Believer'. I like the lyrics, and that the vocals and her pronunciation is clear. The song definitely picks up, and creates a quite intense/dramatic listening. It is a lot more like what is in the charts, and I can imagine it being on a talent show. It is quite catchy.

'Run To You' is the fifth song on the album. When I first listened to this song, I was positive I had heard it before, which made me think was it a single? So upon looking it up, I found it was a promotional single in the run up to the release of this album. I like her vocals on this, they are much lower, showing her range. They lyrics are nice, very emotional. I definitely prefer the chorus to the verses, but overall, the song has a nice build up to it. I think this is one of the 'better' songs on the album (in my opinion).

'Heavenly' is a song I'm not as fond of, I just don't really like it. For me at this point, I felt like all her songs had a very similar sound/sounded the same. I understand she has a niche but because her vocals are so diverse, it would be nice to see a bit more variety from the album. I do prefer the chorus on this song as it picks up.

The seventh song is 'Anything's Possible'. I like that the lyrics are very descriptive, and that the song is quite theatrical, going back to her roots a little bit. Also, it suits her voice. The chorus, is yet again, my preferred part of the song. I like the piano and the production is very good.

'Getaway Car' is a very simple and slow song. It slowly builds throughout the song and reminded me very much of an early/mid 2000's love ballad, which is great because they are some of my favourite songs. The vocals are very much the focus here and with the simplicity of the piano, it brings a classy vibe to the song.

'Sentimental Memories', again, is a simple, slow song. I like the lyrics, it feels like she is telling a story through them. They are quite emotional and sound quite personal to Lea. I like the added effects within the song as it brings a bit of versatility, and distinguishes it from the other songs that sound similar on the album. The only thing I didn't like, to an extent, is that it is quite a long song.

'Tornado' is another favourite of mine. I love that, in the beginning, it is just her voice, with the added effect of the echo in the background. It is a really catchy song, and slowly builds throughout the chorus. The strings and piano compliment each other nicely, but then later in the song with the added bass drum makes it unique. The lyrics are great as well!

The last song on the album is 'Hey You'. When this song started I wasn't really concentrating then something hit me and I had to start it from the beginning. The lyrics left me speechless once I realised the context of the song, or what I believe it was about, Cory Monteith. It is an emotional song, and probably my favourite on the album. I love that she left it to the end so it had it's own moment and wasn't lost between all the other songs. I really hope she releases it as a single because it is such a beautiful song.

Overall, I did love this album, however, a lot of the songs I found to sound very similar, so I don't think it will be an album I would have on repeat. I am glad that Lea brought out another album because it is nice to hear her diverse vocals again. So for this album, I'm going to give it a 3/5 stars.