Verve Forecast
Pop, 2010

Proving that being been dropped from her previous recording label for underwhelming sales is in many ways similar to getting over a lousy ex-boyfriend, Katharine McPhee gets a brand new hairstyle and adopts the music stylistics beloved of jilted women everywhere: adult contemporary music.

Tunes like Keep Drivin’ and Terrified actually showcases Ms McPhee’s new-found vocal maturity wonderfully. She is no longer Kara Dioguardi’s Mini-Me, she wants everyone to know, she’s now ready to take on Martina McBride and the rest! It’s hard for me to find fault with the moody but heartfelt Last Letter or the adorably quirky Lifetime. The best song on the CD, however, is the superb Had It All, a perfect summertime song about regrets that is nonetheless wonderful catharsis to sing out loud to.

Unbroken is an uncomplicated collection of well-produced adult contemporary tunes, and Ms McPhee is good enough to make the songs work very well. Therefore, it’s hard for me to resist this one. Let’s play Had It All again!