We can't get it right, still we carry on

The comparative lack of success of Australian singer Leah Haywood surprises me a little--from what I've heard, she had some teen-pop songs that would have fit right in with the other songs being released in 2000. However, her first single peaked at #7, and nothing she released was able to come close to that, with her second single peaking at #31, her third single reaching #18, and the album itself peaking at #40. I still have to get the album, called Leah (well, actually, I just bought it while writing up this post; listening to the songs again made me really want to hear more...), but given the strength of what I've heard so far (the first three singles), I'm very hopeful. She's since gone on to writing and producing for other singers.

We Think It's Love--her debut single. Some of you may have heard a version of this song, if you read Catchy Tunes of Sweden; Swedish Idol contestant Nathalie covered it, albeit with some significant changes in style (I very much recommend grabbing her version, as depending on my mood I may even prefer it to the original). Nathalie's version is a little darker than the original--not that it's ominous, though. Leah's original version sounds more typical of the teen-pop era in which it came out. That it carries that sound shouldn't be surprising, though, given who was involved with it--it was co-written by Jörgen Elofsson and co-produced by (among others) Elofsson, David Kreuger, and Per Magnusson. The song itself is mid-tempo and generally smooth, built to a large part around the "We think it's love-love-love-love-love" of the chorus (it sounds a lot better than that looks).

Takin' Back What's Mine--this song has more attitude than "We Think It's Love," and possibly because of that it's got more of a stronger beat, especially in the opening. However, the chorus opens up far more than I would have expected it to; in fact, it's a much better song than I expected it to be, given those first couple seconds (which aren't bad or anything--the song just exceeds them).

I also quite like "Crazy," possibly more than either of these songs, but I don't have it (yet); you can listen to it by watching the video on YouTube here, though.

You could theoretically buy Leah Haywood's album Leah here, from Amazon, but it's being sold for a ridiculous price; I'd recommend waiting for it to show up on eBay, or getting some of her singles from there.

Next up: probably back to former Fame Factory contestants.