This Is the Life

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Amy MacDonald is that proverbial old head on young shoulders, a Scottish singer-songwriter who, despite her tender 19 years, writes songs with the grace, wisdom and proficiency of one with a score more on the clock. As influenced by The Libertines as any venerable old folk hand, the eleven songs on This Is the Life combine a traditional, acoustic folk-rock sound with a youthful spirit and self-assured lyrics that veer between the observational and the confessional. "Poison Prince" is a jagged guitar strut dedicated to some Doherty-like bad boy, a song every bit as pathos-laden as The Libertines at their doomed, romantic best with a closing treatise to find "An upbeat song/So we can dance the night away", while "Mr Rock & Roll" begins as a wryly withering jibe at some perennial party animals, but by the chorus, has softened into a subtle, touching tale of human coupling. MacDonald’s age doesn’t seem to have been an impediment; "Youth of Today", reportedly written when she was 15, is one of the better tracks here, while "Footballer’s Wife" is a clear-headed attack on vapid Barbie Doll celebrity that suggests this girl is very much on the right track. "Rolling Stone, here I come, watch out everyone/I’m singing my song" she sings on "Let’s Start a Band". Let that be a warning to you. –-Louis Pattison