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http://www.rollingstone.com/assets/images/album_review/809375fec4b1c647d9c2ef2ebc38245917683ad9.jpg The House

Katie Melua

The House

Dramatico
Rolling Stone: star rating
Community: star rating
5 3 0
August 3, 2010

Please allow Katie Melua to introduce herself: "I'd love to kill you while you eat," she sings over the eerie pedal steel guitar of the opening track. The Soviet Georgia-born, British-raised singer-songwriter is a superstar in the U.K., but she's barely registered in the States. The House, her fourth disc, is a stylistic leap for the theatrical performer who owes no small debt to Kate Bush. Melua tapped Madonna producer William Orbit to add a little sparkle to guilty pleasures like the sci-fi disco fantasy "Tiny Alien," but keeps things grounded on organic bluesy brooders like "The One I Love Is Gone." A mixed bag of atmospherics that somewhat justifies Melua's chart-topping popularity back home.

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