The Ghost Who Walks

Karen Elson is in a tough spot. Not your average singer-songwriter, she is both supermodel and wife to Jack White of the White Stripes, Dead Weather, and Raconteurs. As the story goes, Elson, who's written and performed for several years with the Citizens Band cabaret troupe in New York, had written a heap of songs on her own. White coaxed out a few, enjoyed what was probably his eighth or ninth eureka moment that day, and rounded up a war party to take into his Third Man studio in Nashville. He was going to help her record her debut, The Ghost Who Walks, a nd he hooked it up pretty nicely. The list of players is as long and impressive (see: Jackson Smith, son of Patti/husband to Meg White/"brother-in-law" to Elson lends his guitar talents) as the level of scrutiny attached is intense. No matter which angle you take, it's safe to say Karen Elson has one very enormous shadow to escape. And to do that, the songs here would need to be great rather than good.

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It's easy to be cynical about the move into music made by supermodel Karen Elson. Her husband is a certain Jack White, who produces and plays drums on The Ghost Who Walks, her debut album. The guitarist son of Patti Smith is in her band. And the album is being released through XL Recordings, a label not known for their fondness for polite country rock.

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In the end, The Ghost Who Walks, for all its prettiness and grace, can be best described with an un-model-like term: average.

Full Review | More Reviews from Publication | Top Rated of 2010