The audio: After years of receiving attention mostly for her tabloid antics, Amy Winehouse is finally back in the news for her musical talent with a leaked recording of her rendition of Lesley Gore's 1963 song "It's My Party." The track is reportedly one of three she worked on with producer Mark Ronson for a Quincy Jones tribute album set for release on Nov. 9. Here she slurs and sing-speaks her way through Gore's girlish pop classic, which was one of Jones' early hits as a producer, to give it a uniquely Amy update.
The reaction: "Winehouse lets it fly" here and it's a success, says Amos Barshad in New York. In this "muscular vocal performance" she "moves effortlessly from louche to anguished — and sounds not even a tiny bit horribly addicted to drugs while doing so." Well, frankly, it's not entirely clear whether Amy's slurred vocals "are stylistic or substance-related," says Leah Greenblatt in Entertainment Weekly. This definitely isn't "the most coherent vocal ever laid to tape," says Tim Jonze in The Guardian, "although if there's ever a song where you can let it all go a bit runny-mascara-and-10-Bacardi-Breezers then this is it." Listen for yourself:
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
