Review: KT Turnstall "Tiger Suit"

I love music. When I run, music is what keeps me from going insane listening to feet slap the pavement (or treadmill as the case may be) or breathing. And it keeps me from looking at the timer every two seconds to see if I'm done yet. When I'm driving, I'm the one you'll see bopping around singing to what's playing on the radio.

Granted, I do an awful lot of flipping to find what I want to listen to. I can be worse than your stereotypical man channel surfing sometimes. Fortunately, I've got some music I can listen to without endangering anyone in lanes near me because I don't have to flip through (ok, so maybe that's a little bit of an exaggeration: I always change stations responsibly).

KT Tunstall is a singer I've liked for a long time. She sings "Suddenly I See" - a song that pops into my head every time I so much as hear (or see) the title. I haven't heard much new from her since that album, but the acoustic guitar and singable melodies from that album were compelling.

Her new album "Tiger Suit" was released October 5, and it's a little different, as my husband put it. There are still the acoustics that worked so well for her in "Eye of the Telescope" but the sound has changed significantly from that effort. It's a little more dancy, but still just as catchy as that first album.

The first single from the album "Fade Like a Shadow" is already a Top 20 hit on radio, and I can see why. It's another song that gets caught up in your head, and I've found myself singing it more than once.

Most of the songs on the album have that same nature. They're great driving music and keep you bopping along as you listen to it. "Glamour Puss" is one of my favorites. Not only

My absolute favorite, though, is "(Still a) Weirdo" which rather reminds me of Tori Amos. It's earnest and carries a haunting melody and message that resonates with me. She whispers through much of it, and you can feel her aching as you listen.

I can only imagine how this would sound in person - with her focus on her voice and the acoustics rather than an overproductionalized sound and show, it is one I would love to see. And check it out, KT Tunstall is heading out on tour later this month:

Oct 31 at the Crystal Ballroom in Portland, OR
Nov 1 at the Commodore Ballroom in Vancouver, BC
Nov 2 at The Showbox SODO in Seattle, WA
Nov 4 at the Knitting Factory Spokane, in WA
Nov 5 at the Knitting Factory in Boise, ID
Nov 7 at the Knitting Factory in Reno, NV
Nov 8 at the Warfield Theatre in San Francisco, CA
Nov 11 at The Music Box in Los Angeles, CA
Nov 12 at the House of Blues in San Diego, CA
Nov 16 at the Ogden Theatre in Denver, CO
Nov 18 at Epic in Minneapolis, MN
Nov 19 at The Vogue in Indianapolis, IN
Nov 21 at the Vic Theatre in Chicago, IL (yay!)
Nov 22 at The Crofoot in Detroit, MI
Nov 23 at the Phoenix Theatre in Toronto, ON
Nov 25 at Club Soda in Montreal, QU
Nov 26 at The Trocadero in Philadelphia, PA
Nov 27 at the 9:30 Club in Washington, DC
Nov 29 at the House of Blues in Boston, MA
Dec 1 at Terminal 5 in New York, NY

And if you can't make it to a show, you can still buy the album.

In the interest of full disclosure, I received a copy of the album for review purposes from the One2One Network. I was entered to win a gift card for participating in the reivew process. All opinions expressed are my own.