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Amy Macdonald is a 19 year old Glaswegian soloist. She started writing songs at the age of 12, and at 15, she was playing acoustic gigs. This Is The Life is her debut album, and features 11 original songs, all written by Amy.

On listening to the first track, Mr Rock 'n' Roll, it is evident that Amy has a sound that is extremely mature for her age. The music flows perfectly and the lyrics are well thought out. The most striking element of this track and the other ten songs is the vocal ability. She carries a strong Scottish accent, which is delightful, as it is very rare that an artist hailing from Scotland keeps their accent so strong when singing. Her voice is exceptionally developed for her age.

The title track is just as impressive as Mr Rock 'n' Roll, but a tad sombre. It carries on the same acoustic and country feel. Personally, I wouldn’t expect country music to go with a powerful Scottish accent acceptably, however, the sound created is fresh and intriguing. After the toned-down track comes the vibrant and distinct Poison Prince. A track with a fantastic beat and rapid guitar strumming. It comes as a welcome change after the more poignant opening tracks, so it amusing to hear the line

“And what we all want and what we all crave, is an upbeat song so we can dance the night away”.
This track generates the urge to do just that!

Youth Of Today, a song Amy wrote when she was 15 and proves just how much talent she had as a young teenager. It is a solid acoustic rock ballad and a song many teenagers can relate to, as it is about the constant battle between the opinions of the youth and adults. Youth Of Today sums up all the opinions of a teenager tremendously. The acoustic sound continues through to the end of the album, with a mixture of slow and fast tracks. Road To Home is a reflective and emotional ending expressing Amy’s pride in her Celtic roots. This pride is highlighted further with Amy‘s version of Caledonia, a track which contains the embracing sound of bagpipes (which I was secretly hoping to hear at some point).

Overall, the album is of exceptional quality for the artist's age. Numerous tracks are catchy and some are filled with emotion. The album does contain a few fillers, but 9 out of 10 albums do. The songs fit together well and it would make excellent listening on a train journey home.

8/10 - A promising debut.

Reviewed by Martin