Published on Aug 16, 2000
Brita is an artist who is trapped between two worlds.
On one hand, there is the young artist who dares to delve into
the pop world, wanting to write songs that make people think while
having catchy hooks to them. On the other hand is the dance-club
diva wannabe, who wants to get people up and grooving to the latest
beats.
The two worlds collide on her independent debut EP,
britaworld.com. And while there are signs of progress on
both fronts, Brita would have been better served following one path
and making a more collected disc of tunes.
In a sense, this six-song disc (which clocks in at just under 24
minutes) is impressive, because it features the work of only two
people – namely, vocalist Brita Beseth and studio wunderkind Marc
Dold. And there is promise heard in the songwriting, especially in
songs like “Lift Me Up” and “Hold You,” which suggest that Brita
could eventually be a frontrunner in the field of popular
music.
But somehow, when she delves into the world of dance, everything
is put on hold. The two different versions of “Do You Want Me” fail
to light up the speakers in the way that she probably hoped for.
Yet the combination works a little better on “If Only,” a track
which is reminiscent of Mariah Carey without the roller-coaster
vocals and is firmly rooted in the pop world with a touch of
dance.
The greatest problem, of course, is that it’s very hard to pass
judgment on any musician’s career with only five or six songs to
base that opinion on. Having said that, I do hear great potential
in Brita’s work – and maybe the key to future success (warning:
blasphemy ahead) is to open her doors to additional musicians and
songwriting partners, if only to inject new blood from time to
time. The Beseth-Dold partnership works well at times, but it
sometimes sounds a tad limited.
I’d love to say that
britaworld.com is the Rosetta Stone to opening up the doors
between pop rock and dance music. It’s not, but it dares to hold
out the hope that a bridge between the two genres can still be
built, and Brita might just be the person who can do that. With a
little work and time to season her craft, we’ll soon see.