Many people show less interest toward reality show singers, thinking that they are lacking in identity which can only sing cover songs. However, Cher Lloyd could be one of the examples that change people’s minds. With two Top 5 singles, her debut album Sticks + Stones released on Nov. 7.
Cher Lloyd, who was born in 1993, achieved No.4 on the reality-based singing competition The X Factor UK Version. She was young and energetic at that time, most importantly, she was gifted. During audition and bootcamp, Cher boldly rearranged “Turn My Swag On” and “Viva La Vida”, she wrote the rap part and emerge it into the songs. Such performances not only showed Cher’s own style, but also displayed her creativity in front to the audiences. After Cher’s performance of “Just Be Good To Me” on the first week of Live Show, Simon Cowell commented that: “that’s why we picked you a couple week ago…you are exactly what we’re looking for, which is a new little star…that’s what pop music is all about”. On the seventh week, Cher’s “Stay” even made Simon said that it was the best performance of the season. Getting such high compliment from Simon Cowell, what 17-year-old Cher had was not only surprise but also the confidence of her future music career. Although she was voted off on Top 4, for her, it was only the beginning of her music career.
Young, bold and creative is the vantage for Cher during the competition and she doesn’t forget it. In her debut album Sticks + Stones, she uses 10 songs to show us a vivid, happy and young scene. Single “Swagger Jagger” has young lyrics and springy melody, the chorus of the song is sampling from 1884’s folk song “Oh My Darling, Clementine”. The lyrics of the song depict how Cher condemns those people who want to copy her dance move via any method. Many new-media words such as tweeting, youtubing makes the song very current, but there are also comments judging that such lyrics make the song very naïve. Apart from the lyrics, heavy drum beats and rich effects reinforce the energy of the song. Meanwhile, Cher combining her rap with the singing raises the song to another “current” level. If I have to compare the style of the song to someone’s, “Swagger Jagger” should be the young version of Black Eyed Peas. I have to admit that, because of the combination of dance beats and folk-song melody, it was weird to hear it at the first place, but if you are sensitive to dance beats, this may be a very nice party song.
Second single “With Ur Love” slows down the album. Lyrics such as “I feel like I’m on top of the world with ur love” vividly portrays a little girl’s longing toward love. This song sounds a little bit more mature than “Swagger Jagger”, but Cher still enjoys the vantage of being young, which you can still find the naughty feeling from the song. Also, the inflection of the voice from this song shows that Cher is not only a singer that relies on outlook and age, she can also SING.
Besides, other songs from this album make listeners have the feelings of going back to the days when they were young. The first song of this album, “Grow Up”, obviously expressed the message that Cher enjoys her age and doesn’t want to grow up. In the bridge, she sings “I am a princess and I don’t wanna be the queen”. The reason Cher doesn’t want to grow up may be because that the free and wild lifestyle of being young would be gone when growing up. Likewise, songs such as “Playa Boi” and “Dub in the Track” ignite audiences’ emotions by using fruitful effect and drum beats, also give them the chance of feeling young energy. Perhaps such songs are lacking in depth, but for Cher who loves to show us the young attitude, all we need is just happiness.
Overall, Sticks + Stones shows the little girl’s young and energetic power to the world. The rap parts of many songs also prove that Cher would follow her own unique style. Maybe Cher can bring us more surprises, just as Simon said, Cher is “unpredictable”.
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