In 1998, Natalie Imbruglia exploded into the music world with the infectious hit single “Torn”, a cover of the original by Ednaswap. Nothing she has done since has quite measured up to the commercial success of “Torn” but her subsequent work is just as worthy, if not more so, of praise. It is therefore unfortunate that her sophomore album, White Lilies Island (released four years later), in many ways better than but overshadowed by her debut, has come and gone without significant recognition.
White Lilies Island is the type of album you would easily ignore on a first listen. The album’s opener, “That Day”, a lyrically free-flowing song bursting with youth, confusion and the beauty of life is energetic but not extremely engaging. At a glance, the album is often slow (“Goodbye”, “Hurricane”, “Come September”) with several pop-rock numbers (“Sunlight” and the first single off of the album, "Wrong Impression”).
But it surprises you once you give it a little more attention than its opener deserves. Upon subsequent listens, especially at times when you’re too lazy to skip tracks and/or albums, you come to realize the force of the voice, the meaning of the words. The slow but enthralling “Goodbye" cuts straight to your heart; it is a song that has the power to conjure the saddest memories, the most painful heartbreaks. Certainly we\'ve all been indifferently told to “just try to write it down/or put it in a letter;” Imbruglia makes it infinitely more lonesome with her ethereally slow vocals in this track. The same can be said for "Hurricane" (a track that unfolds explosively much like a hurricane) and the slow but heavy "Do You Love."
White Lilies Island is painfully beautiful. It is a montage of old love letters, solo walks, lonely Saturdays spent with cups of black coffee, and yet, it is resilient in its pain; there is a persistence in Imbruglia\'s no-nonsense but lovely voice that seems more than reluctant (especially when it goes up against a symphony in the background) to give up the fight. The album tracks range from the feel-good pop number "Wrong Impression" to the bittersweet fairy-tale wonderland of "Come September". While a number of the tracks have a habit of picking up the speed halfway through (even when it is not necessary as in "Goodbye"), White Lilies Island is a true gem from an artist that takes care in honing her craft.
"White Lilies Island" is on sale November 27, 2001 from RCA.
