Album Review: Rita Ora – Ora

Rita Ora has been one of the biggest success stories of 2012 so far – in under nine months she has achieved three number one singles. It’s with the release of her début album this week that Rita must now prove she has the talent to back up her success, showing there is more to her than being dubbed the ‘British Rihanna’.

Album opener ‘Facemelt’ doesn’t make a lot of lyrical sense, but seems to have Rita warning listeners that the beat will make their face melt and she’s not far wrong here, this track is dub-step heavy.

We all know Rita’s three number one singles – ‘Hot Right Now’, ‘R.I.P.’ and ‘How We Do (Party)’ – so we all understand that this girl loves herself a club banger, but luckily Rita can turn down the pace too.

Tracks like ‘Young, Single & Sexy’ and ‘Meet Ya’ are perfect mid-tempo jams for a summer drive, with lyrics that are sure to be future Facebook statuses and tweets of teenage girls across the country. The album can be cliché at times, but when it sounds this good, it’s easy to overlook this fact.

Collaborations with will.i.am can generally go either way in terms of quality, but on ‘Fall In Love’ the pair make a formidable duo. Will takes a back seat on the vocals but supplies some world-class production, whilst Rita tells her man she ‘doesn’t want a one night stand’, that she’s more interested in falling in love. Despite the soppy lyrical content, this song was made for the dancefloor.

‘Shine Ya Light’ is another punchy, attitude fuelled, beat-heavy anthem from Miss Ora, and ‘Radioactive’ is the perfect blend of R&B beats and dance synths – this is the sound of 2012.

Ora is a solid début album, which should get Rita the international attention she deserves, but hopefully the next album will show more of a cohesive identity. Whilst this whole album is full of radio-friendly tracks with hooks that will be stuck in your head for the entire week, defining Rita’s unique sound isn’t an easy task yet.

Go Get It: Fall In Love / Radioactive

Forget It: Hello, Hi, Goodbye

Ora is available to download now on Amazon and iTunes

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOOxlVUC08Q