Track Listing

1. They
2. Come On Closer
3. Finally Woken
4. Save Me
5. 24
6. Missing You
7. Wish I
8. Just A Ride
9. Falling For You
10. Stay Now
11. Flying High

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2704 in Music
• Released on: 2004-03-23
• Number of discs: 1

Album Description
Though the downbeat electronica and laconic vocals of Cardiff-born Jem Griffiths find her lumbered with a "Dido-wannabe" tag, she's actually much more adventurous than that. On the whole, Finally Woken sounds like someone finally told Beth Orton to cheer up, and at its best the album finds Jem reveling in all the studio tricks available to her. The opener, "They," loops a nonsensical children's chorus to create a mood of Danny Elfmanesque creepiness, while "Come On Closer" and "24" manage to use crunching electric guitars and strings while avoiding any comparison to Evanescence. The title track combines a loping beat with a jazzy vocal delivery that's reminiscent of Portishead, and "Save Me" is a better-than-average R&B track that's sure to be covered for years to come. Unfortunately, too much of the album's latter half sinks into a slow-paced Didoesque electronic slurry, though Jem's to be applauded for at least trying to liven things up with the cod-reggae of "Wish I." Sony. 2005.

From Amazon.co.uk
Though the downbeat electronica and laconic vocals of Cardiff-born Jem Griffiths find her lumbered with a "Dido-wannabe" tag, she's actually much more adventurous than that. On the whole, Finally Woken sounds like someone finally told Beth Orton to cheer up, and at its best the album finds Jem reveling in all the studio tricks available to her. The opener, "They," loops a nonsensical children's chorus to create a mood of Danny Elfmanesque creepiness, while "Come On Closer" and "24" manage to use crunching electric guitars and strings while avoiding any comparison to Evanescence. The title track combines a loping beat with a jazzy vocal delivery that's reminiscent of Portishead, and "Save Me" is a better-than-average R&B track that's sure to be covered for years to come. Unfortunately, too much of the album's latter half sinks into a slow-paced Didoesque electronic slurry, though Jem's to be applauded for at least trying to liven things up with the cod-reggae of "Wish I." --Robert Burrow

Customer Reviews

Nice Surprise
What a fantastic album. I discovered her pretty recently but I've played the CD a lot and I can say that I like pretty much every song. I like her voice pretty well, but the songs are great!

Not what I expected
I found the CD through their web site. I clicked the link for the sample song at the time, and it was pretty good. Then I clicked the link to buy the CD, and followed it to the Amazon site.

When the CD arrived, it was a good CD. On it's own merrits it is great, but the sample song wasn't even on the CD.

The four is because the CD is too good to give a low rating, but I can't give it a five due to what I percieve as questionable advertising practices. It is also possible though that I may have managed to hit the site in the middle of an update, which could explain the difference between the sample song and the CD, so I will not rate it very low.

A pleasant surprise
I picked up this little gem (heh) because of the song "24" which is featured in the trailer to the film "Ultraviolet." I was surprised to find half of the rest of the CD to be just as good.

Some of the songs have videos out there, meaning that singles may have been intended, but "They" and "Just a Ride" and "Wish I" should have been honored more.

I played this CD in my car for a two hour commute for a month. Worth owning (especially for the price). Beware the title track, though. I couldn't hit skip quickly enough.