ROBYN TAYLOR - The Way I Wanna Be

Another homegrown talent is ROBYN TAYLOR, who hails from Cambuslang. Robyn has been performing for the past thirty years, on the cabaret scene here, and in Spain. Her first recording was back in 2005, but fans have encouraged her to sing more Country songs, so another couple of albums followed, leading to competing in the 2013 Euro Country Masters (the Country version of the Eurovision Song Contest).
Her latest album “The Way I Wanna Be” is described by Robyn as her “life in song – The high’s, the lows, and everything in between”. The album was recorded in Glasgow with Greg Friel at the helm.
There’s certainly quite a variety on the album.
It all kicks off with a rather pop sounding “The Last Real Gentleman”, which was written by Robyn. Indeed, all but one of the 11 songs were written by Robyn, mostly with producer Greg Friel.  The exception is a cover of The Judds’ “Turn It Loose”, which she gives a good raunchy performance on.
The title track has quite an upbeat, Raintown type, sound to it. There’s also an alternative “disco mix” (showing my age there!) of the song to close off the CD.
There are some other upbeat numbers, notably “Stop My Heart”, which has quite a jolly feel to it, and really stood out for me. There’s also an acoustic version as a bonus track on the CD. “Better Days” also has quite a bright and breezy feel to it.
But I do have to say that I liked the ballads, especially “In The Arms Of Love”, which was a finalist in the UK Songwriters Contest last year. It is a lovely ballad, which would easily crossover between Country and mainsteam pop. Others ballads include “Memories In The Sky” “You Can’t Love A Memory”, and “Leave Me Behind”, which is the most simple arrangement on the album. It’s a nice slow ballad which works really well.
Most singers that have worked the cabaret and club scene are content singing covers, so it’s really good to hear Robyn developing her own songwriting, and having the belief to put her own songs out there.  I’d describe her style as modern crossover Country, and the new breed of Country fans who go out of their way to support the current crop of American acts, would do well to check out talents like Robyn, much closer to home!
www.robyntaylorofficial.com