Music Video Review: Corinne Bailey Rae's "I'd Do It All Again"

By our guest blogger, Megan O'Malley

Corinne Bailey Rae is a dainty-looking singer with a big voice from the UK. She has the same qualities of Etta James or Billie Holiday in that she is able to belt out the tunes or pull a listener in with a soft whispery lyric. The first single, “I’d Do It All Again,” off of her latest release, “The Sea,” shows Rae's vocal abilities of in a heart-wrenching torch song.

The video is shot in light airy tones of blue skies, bright white bedding and colorful supermarkets. In Rae’s face, the viewer can see the pain and anguish that also are in the lyrics. As she goes about her day again and again, her melancholy tone counteracts the colors that are around her. It is during the crescendo of the song that Rae and the video become one. She saunters through the streets, oblivious to the cars around her, crying out for her lost love. The line “You’ve got my heart/ my head is lost” sums up the video as a whole. “I’d Do It All Again” shows a woman as she goes through the motions of life, but cannot overcome the love she once knew.

Rae has the same remarkable qualities as Norah Jones. Although less smoky and more airy than Jones, Rae joins her in that each has been able to successfully blend pop and jazz in a way that brings it to the main stream and the top 40 charts. As a first single, she has made an interesting choice by opting to use such a sad song, but it is a choice that works. Not only does it beautifully display her vocal range, but it allows Rae to set the tone for her latest foray into the musical world. By starting with “I’d Do It All Again,” she is able to reach out her listeners that wanted to hear something deeper and more soulful than her earlier pop ventures. It gives listeners the chance to hear another side of Rae. This side is the one that invokes the jazz greats of the past, which will help her stand out among her competition.

Grade: A-

View the video for "I'd Do it All Again" below. What are your thoughts?