Review: Looking Up by Simon Bailey

Simon Bailey is a West End actor known for his roles in Les Miserables, The Phantom of the Opera, and Passion. He also has a solo album, called Looking Up, that came out in December 2012. So, yes, I'm incredibly late to the game on this one.


Last week, he mentioned his album on his Twitter which prompted me to finally buy it on iTunes. I listened to it on the way back from the beach and was appalled that I'd waited so long to check it out.

The album is made up of covers of ballads like "Tears in Heaven" by Eric Clapton, musical theatre songs like "The Distance You Have Come" by Scott Alan, and four songs written by Simon himself. There are gorgeous duets with Katie Hall and Sabrina Aloueche. However, my personal favorite is "Murder in the City" by the Avett Brothers, sung by Simon and Ramin Karimloo. Seriously, whoever thought up the idea of them singing that song together is a genius.

Some musical theatre stars struggle to sing non-showtunes (and it's understandable; not everyone can be Jeremy Jordan or Ramin Karimloo), but Simon certainly has no issues. His voice lends itself very well to the songs he chose while still showing off the incredible vocals that have moved his theatre career along its path.

I highly recommend this album to anyone and everyone. It's perfect "in-the-car" music, so I'll definitely be listening to it again on my next road trip (and I'm sure lots of times before that as well). xx

You can buy the album on iTunes or Amazon or listen on Spotify
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