ALBUM OF THE WEEK: Eye to the Telescope - KT Tunstall

 There was a bit of a period where you regularly heard some of the singles from this album on the radio, yet it seems her knowledge in the public eye fell into oblivion when she has only gotten better in her career. "Eye to the Telescope" is KT Tunstall's debut album and had a strong showing of everything she was made of. We didn't quite get the album until 2006, as Katie "KT" Tunstall is actually a Scottish musician. Her voice has a smoky grit to it but can smoothen out enough for the more pop-centric songs.

I originally discovered her when I heard "Suddenly I See" on the radio, and I decided to try some of the other songs. A majority of her music is not so pop-centric. At her best, she focuses on the rock-leaned side and uses the grit in her voice to create the emotions. In the latter half of her career, she's found better balance in that with albums like Wax and Tiger Suit. But we are not discussing her later career albums. But you can certainly see her sound capabilities from her debut album.

The album begins with "The Other Side of the World", a piano ballad with some sad lyrics. Loving someone but you are so different that it could never work. Being the other side of the world to someone. It can also reference a long distance relationship, where someone struggles to keep the connection alive. I love the way she sings the chorus, it has always struck me. 

"Another Place to Fall" has much more grit than the starter track, diving into a darker theme and the smoke of her voice. The song appears to reference someone who has chosen their main force of energy to be hatred, which can certainly apply to a lot of themes in life. They needed to find something else to fall into. I love the way she chose to sing so low and lean right into the grit, it makes the smooth song sound strong and angry. 

"Under the Weather" despite being released as a single, never grabbed me like some other tracks did. While it isn't a BAD song, it falls on feeling a bit like a filler track which is easily forgotten in the run of the album.

Here comes the song almost everyone probably knows by her, "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree", which is meant to discuss the pain of love and losing it in the form of a folksy vibe. On a surface level, the song probably makes no sense to the average listener and just sounds very upbeat and catchy. I love the emotion she draws into her voice with the story. 

"Miniature Disasters" is a compelling song to me as someone with anxiety problems, I can certainly relate to creating little disasters out of small things which cause me to panic and lose sight of things. I feel the song represents a lot of basic anxiety that affects the average person and maybe someone who has more of it than others. I always liked the way the guitar sounds like it is popping too, like little storms just popping up.

"Silent Sea" does not have many lyrics but I love the choice of music for the song. It makes you feel like you are there, watching the sea ebb and flow with her. While short, the lyrics are compelling as well. It references while wanting to advance, sometimes you need to slow down and appreciate the small things in front of you. Stay, and watch the silent sea. 

Simplistic in melody, "Universe & U" I always found interesting because it appears to reference the philosophy there are 3 versions of yourself. This suggests there's you, that you know, the you which God or "the universe" knows you are, and then your friend. 

"False Alarm" returns to the beginning of the album's mellowness. The song appears to reference difficulties in feeling like everything's become a routine, and maybe it is just all in her head but it bothers her the way everything seems the same every day. 

"Suddenly I See" is probably the poppiest song on the album, a bit of radio fodder. Nevertheless, I always loved the song as it seems to describe someone watching their favorite person on TV or something and wanting to be that too. 

While I am not as into the melody on this one, "Stoppin' the Lovin'" is a song lyrically compelling. When you have all this in front of you yet you hold back, and keeping anyone from loving you. I think many people who have been emotionally hurt could relate to this track.

"Heal Over" is a sweet song of consolation and comfort to someone struggling. As times tend to heal everything. I also for some reason love the unique way she chose to enunciate "genius" on this song. It starts off sounding a bit like "genie" which makes me think how sometimes we think our problems will just magically "poof" away like a wish from a genie. 

The final track is "Through the Dark", a piano based song like the starting track. The title of the album referenced how she used to love looking through her father's telescope, so I always imagined that perhaps she was looking to her father, asking him how to manage all these new things happening for her. It makes the song feel so sentimental. 

Lyrics: 9/10 - I always love her lyricism, even if I do not always stylistically enjoy how she arranges it.

Music: 7/10 - There's songs that are either too mellow or the music doesn't have the same force as the lyrics themselves.

Overall: 8/10 - I have always enjoyed this album, and much of her work. I highly recommend if you have slept on her to try her other music. Most of her music sounds so different from Suddenly I See lyrically and musically.