Rose Elinor Dougall

Without Why (Scarlett Music)

By Dana Raidt
Published: August 30th, 2010 | 7:00am

An original member of ‘60s English girl-group revivalists the Pipettes, Rose Elinor Dougall left the group in 2008. She could have easily cashed in on the Pipettes’ built-in retro appeal and deserves credit for not doing so. However, on Without Why, her solo debut, Dougall has left behind the Pipettes’ shtick, but unfortunately, even that shift seems contrived.

She’s obviously a talented singer, but every feeling on this LP comes across as so forced and calculated it’s hard to take it at more than face value. Does trading in girl-group harmonies for slow, keyboard-backed ballads (and polka-dot dresses for all-black getups and eyeliner) automatically mean the music is more interesting, or that Dougall has grown as an artist? It wouldn’t even be an issue if the music could stand on its own, but the truth is, most of Without Why’s songs are sleepers and only “Start/Stop/Synchro” and “Carry On” have enough personality to convince you she isn’t just a safer version of Kate Nash, Lily Allen, or the Long Blondes’ Kate Jackson. “Another Version of Pop Song” is anything but, with its sappy lyrics and refrain of “I want you,” and the rest of the album, while not unpleasant, doesn’t have much going for it either.

There are always high expectations for group members who go it alone, and no one is necessarily insisting that Dougall’s solo debut be a revelation of previously hidden brilliance. But Without Why seems like such a halfhearted musical attempt that it does little more than elicit a big “why bother?” As dozens of artists have proven in the past, a pop star singing trite love songs is a pop star singing trite love songs, regardless if you can dance to the music.

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