Despite an initial push for her single "Gotta Get Up from Here" in late 2004, Atlantic Records declined to release
Ellie Lawson's debut album, The Philosophy Tree. Shortly after being dropped by Atlantic,
Lawson picked up the pieces and got herself an appearance on
Ellen DeGeneres' successful daytime talk show. Following that appearance, Barnes & Noble came to the rescue, arranging an exclusive release of the album through its retail stores, and in August 2005
Philosophy Tree finally appeared. And it's weird that Atlantic passed, because
Lawson's debut is a dead ringer for Unwritten, the debut of similarly blonde, similarly British
Natasha Bedingfield that blew up the U.K. charts. On
Philosophy as on Unwritten, strong melodies and empowering lyrics guide programmed beats puttering lightly under strummed acoustic guitars, and samples and swirling string effects fill out the mix. For her part
Lawson tries out some boho rapping on "Bigger Than You Ever Imagined," and "Why the Fighting" is urban-savvy, street-level pop. "Gotta Get Up from Here" really is a great single --
DJ Lethal's production meshes the organic and electronic sides ably as
Lawson sings about a life crisis at 25 -- and "Down with You" blends R&B flavors with beguiling pop jangle.
William Orbit also contributes to "Inside Out" and "LA," perhaps accounting for the latter sounding a lot like
Beth Orton. All of this music is on a descending line from
Alanis Morissette to
Nelly Furtado to
Dido. But that doesn't make it bad in the least.
Lawson's The Philosophy Tree might be sort of calculated, but like
Bedingfield, she has a vocal charm that's hard to fake. ~ Johnny Loftus