Invisible Empire // Crescent Moon – KT Tunstall

Whilst the name implies that this might be a double-album, it is in fact simply another one of KT Tunstall’s charming and at times, amusing acoustic-tinged albums. ‘Invisible Empire // Crescent Moon’ marks Tunstall’s return to a more gentle sound, straying away from the almost rock elements of her previous work. There’s many enjoyable elements on ‘Invisible Empire // Crescent Moon’, with the music being gentle in tone and relaxing in nature. Though sporting a rather pedantic name, there’s some nice material here, suggesting that KT Tunstall is perhaps taking a further step in terms of her song-writing.

‘Invisible Empire // Crescent Moon’ encompasses the simplicity of song-writing, with gentle guitar melodies softly soaring into the fray, often accompanied by equally gentle instrumentals. The album’s entirety seems to feature much of the same style of music, with nothing ever building up into big rock numbers. It seems the album is, to some extent, lacking the diversity and range of some of Tunstall’s previous work, but it seems the presentation of ‘Invisible Empire // Crescent Moon’ works in its favor. Everything sounding gentle and relaxed works well for the overall album itself, presenting it as a nice album experience, featuring a wonderful flow from song to song. It is some of KT Tunstall’s more interesting song-writing to date, and perhaps some of her nicest.

It seems KT Tunstall is certainly one of the singer-songwriters who is thinking of albums in an overall sense, rather than writing good songs and compiling them together. Each song works in presenting the album’s themes and stories, and for the most part it is rather nice. It seems though that whilst ‘Invisible Empire // Crescent Moon’ is certainly enjoyable and nice, it is just perhaps a little bit… bland, in places. The rather down-tempo nature of each of the songs presents it as a relaxing experience, though it is marred by what seems to be just a dull sound that isn’t truly interesting. A few tracks work well, and might perhaps be some of KT Tunstall’s better songs in her repertoire. However, the vast majority of the songs seem just boring and plain, despite working well for the overall album experience.

There’s both enjoyable and un-enjoyable elements on ‘Invisible Empire // Crescent Moon’, it does seem to verge on the border of being one of KT Tunstall’s better albums. Even though the album features an incredibly pretentious title that, it still features some good presentation and song-writing. It is perhaps an album that is somewhat above average, but it is by no means a phenomenal or brilliant album. An enjoyable one perhaps, that at least has a comfortable and relaxing flow. I can’t say whether or not I’d expect any better from KT Tunstall, though at the very least, she has not disappointed with her latest album. Perhaps future her future material will reach a brilliant calibre that is incredibly impressive, but at least for now, there is nothing that is truly been done wrong.

Album Rating:

• ★★★☆☆  3/5

Selected Songs:

• Made Of Glass
• Carried
• Waiting On The Heart
• No Better Shoulder

KT Tunstall’s fourth studio album ‘Invisible Empire // Crescent Moon’ is out now.