Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
Perhaps it is with deep regret that Julia Fordham was never as big or seemingly taken as seriously as she should have been. There are many women whose presence on popular music has kept them so entrenched in the British public psyche that even well into a new a century they are still spoken about with hushed reverential tones or outlandish and bullish feelings of near greatness, Julia Fordham and perhaps the great Sam Brown, daughter of the superb Joe Brown, are unfortunately only remembered when they bring out an album or one of their earlier songs deems play worthy on the radio…days in which seem too few and far between.
However, even if the media sometimes may by-pass, with some sense of shame it has to be said, Julia Fordham, her fans have never forgotten her or the amazing quality in her voice. In her new album Under The Rainbow, that voice which burst through under the guidance of Mari Wilson and Kim Wilde, once more thrusts Ms. Fordham into a spotlight that she should never have been allowed to move away from, or sidestep into the shadows and become absent from popular mainstream. It is too her credit though that she has in Under The Rainbow made an album that errs somewhere between the incredible and tantalisingly gorgeous.
The album has been produced by Grant Mitchell and his deftness of touch on the piano and at the helm of Julia’s music is one of the reasons that the recording has come out with an edge of beauty that fans will adore and that should possibly re-ignite the memory that others will have of her. Her vocals throughout are undeniably on top form and whilst many will remember her for her youthful vocal promise, it is this more mature lady that gently caress the brain and with a tenderness that thrills the heart. Songs such as the opener Skipping Under The Rainbow, Where Does The Time Go, the amazing and heart-breaking More Than I Can Bear and the provocative Girlfriend will leave listeners reaching out to her and holding her close.
Julia Fordham is one of the rare women who hasn’t had enough fuss made of her in the popular music press and even on this album she deserves the accolade of still being eminent, prominent and with a gutsy voice that just keeps giving.
Ian D. Hall