Beginning with her gloriously soaring re-invention of the Sade's "No Ordinary Love," which turns the formerly downtempo gem into a pounding Hi-NRG marvel, Sherrie Lea's "Spellbound" CD provides a high-octane thrill-ride for any fans of female-driven dance tunes. Keeping the energy levels high with beautifully bleeping Trance-NRG tracks like "Blown Away" and "Nothing Better Than Life" (that could easily fit on a Tina Cousins album with the way they combine intricate keyboard lines and powerfully emotive vocals) the album perhaps comes to a climax with the stunning stomper "Finally Discovered" which easily stands out as a potential single with its delicately layered arrangement of background vocals and towering arrangement.
Moving in a slightly different direction are the pop-oriented House tracks that are also sprinkled throughout the CD like the acoustic guitar -flourished "Spellbound," "You Can Count On Me" with its synth-driven edge, the sprightly "Over My Head," and "Anyway" which has enough cheery bounce to bring a little sunshine to any cloudy day. Now ending the album proper is the seductively Electro "Feeling You" with an incessantly nagging rhythm track that underscores its moody composition but also included in the album's dénouement are an trio of club mixes (Trance-tastic PvCH Remixes for "No Ordinary Love" and "You Can Count On Me" along with a flowing 22 Green Remix of "Spellbound") and the shuffling, downtempo Arnold T Chill Mix of "No Ordinary Love" where the pulsing mechanical feel of the now laidback beat brings out a new level of despondency in the lyric.
Other than a slight misfire with a rather unnecessary cover of the Alison Limerick track "Where Love Lives," "Spellbound" is really quite an extraordinary debut album from this Canadian songstress that provides for a wealth of potential singles and promises well for future releases.
