Awake And Breathe – Christopher Thelen

Awake And Breathe
Glowworm / Epic Records, 1999
Reviewed by Christopher Thelen
Published on Nov 30, 1999

There’s something about being a teeny-bopper band that is
inherently dangerous. If you choose not to try and evolve, you’re
accused of riding the coattails of your previous success — or,
even worse, that you’ve creatively run out of steam. But if you try
to evolve your image and your sound, you run the risk of losing the
same fanbase that made you a star in the first place. It’s really a
no-win situation.

Into this arena steps B*Witched, the four-piece Irish girl group
who might not have conquered these shores with their self-titled
debut, but proved they were more than fluff with tracks such as
“C’est La Vie” and “Blame It On The Weatherman”. So what were they
going to do for an encore?

I had a feeling that things weren’t looking good when the cover
of their second disc,
Awake And Breathe, dared to show a little more, aah,
femininity than the first disc. Uh-oh. Warning sign number two:
taking a song from their first disc and re-fitting it with a new
image. This gives us the orchestral version of “Blame It On The
Weatherman”. Why do I get the feeling that the fame clock has just
hit the 10-minute mark?

Truth is,
Awake And Breathe is a step down from B*Witched’s first
album, but isn’t totally dreadful. But while there are still some
very enjoyable moments on this disc, there are signs that this
effort might have been a bit rushed.

For one thing, the harmonies between the four girls — Lindsay,
Keavy, Edele and Sinead — just aren’t as pronounced as they were
on
B*Witched — bad move, since the harmonies were what made
that first disc so catchy. Oh, they’re still present on
Awake And Breathe in songs like “Jesse Hold On” and “Red
Indian Girl,” but they don’t stand out like one would hope they
would.

Second, the songwriting isn’t as strong – evident from the
disc’s first track “If It Don’t Fit,” an attempt to dip their toes
into the world of funk-pop. And it’s sad to see how far Ladysmith
Black Mambazo has slipped over the years. One minute, they’re
bringing the concept of world music alive thanks to their
collaboration with Paul Simon; the next, they’re reduced to a
backup group on “I Shall Be There.” It’s almost as if they were put
on the disc to make B*Witched seem more mature – but Ladysmith
Black Mambazo sounds incredibly out of place.

And while I admitted the lyrics dipped occasionally into the
banal on
B*Witched, things are starting to get out of hand. Sample
lyric from “The Shy One”: “Get up on the ceiling / You don’t know
what I’m feeling / Act your age and not your shoe size.” Oh,

please
.

Be all of this as it may,
Awake And Breathe still contains some enjoyable moments that
remind people just what made B*Witched so charming in the first
place. Tracks like “Jesse Hold On,” “Jump Down,” “Are You A Ghost?”
and “My Superman” all show that this group still knows what it
takes to please the masses. If only there were more moments like
these on the disc.

Awake And Breathe is a step down for B*Witched, a group that
is capable of so much better. Let’s hope the third time is the
charm for these ladies – that is, if the fickle tastes of their
audience will still find them appealing when that album comes.

Rating: B-

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