CORINNE BAILEY RAE - THE SEA - TIE FOR #11

I can say that Corinne Bailey Rae's The Sea is the album on my list of favorites of 2010 that I will probably listen to the least. It's not because it's bad, it's because it's devastatingly beautiful. I talked about this album a while back, the album was inspired by the accidental OD-related death of Rae's husband. It's an unimaginable tragedy.  But she's a songwriter, and I guess that's what songwriters do.

I know that the song "I Would Like To Call It Beauty" was inspired by a phone conversation with her husband's brother, I imagine the song represents a positive way of dealing with a pain that I (thankfully) can't identify with. But the song that I love the most is "I'd Do It All Again." I mean, the title kind of says it all, what a sentiment.

I had the real privilege to film Ms. Rae with her band when they came to the SiriusXM studios in 2010. I was a fan, but it was hard to be in the room with her as she sang those devastating songs. Here's one of the more upbeat ones, it's called "The Blackest Lily." It struck me that she must have had to answer the same questions about such a difficult thing over and over (such is the way the album promotional cycle goes, you do many similar interviews and end up answering the same questions a number of times).  And despite this, she seemed to just have a great attitude, a great vibe. The Sea is a surprisingly optimistic album, I just hope her next one finds a bit more joy.

TOMORROW ON OUTQ: SADE, RAE, PATTY AND MORE

Last week, I didn't make it in to work on Wednesday due to all the snow we got here in New Jersey, so I didn't get to go on The Morning Jolt with Larry Flick on SIRIUS XM's OutQ channel.

So, if you tune in tomorrow morning at 9 am ET, I'll be talking about the albums I meant to talk about last week: Sade's Soldier of Love, Corinne Bailey Rae's The Sea, Patty Griffin's Downtown Church, as well as new songs by rockabilly legend and Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Wanda Jackson, and a new group called The Black Belles (the latter two artists are both produced by Larry Flick's arch-enemy Jack White, so we'll see how this goes over).

TOMORROW ON OUTQ (WEATHER PERMITTING): SADE, RAE, AND MORE

For those of you who are new to No Expiration, every Wednesday morning at 9 am ET I go on the SIRIUS XM channel OutQ. I am a weekly contributor to The Morning Jolt with Larry Flick. We talk about - surprise! - music. Given that our area is supposed to be snowed in tomorrow, I may or may not make it in, stay tuned!

But if I do, I'll be talking about albums from some very talented ladies. First off is what might be the most anticipated album of 2010: Sade's latest, Soldier Of Love, which came out today. I only have the single, the title track, which I love. Sade is like Peter Gabriel, she's practically her own genre. Anyway, Larry has the whole album, so I'll be hearing some of it for the first time.

Corinne Bailey Rae's The Sea is just so, so sad. It is about her late husband, who died of an accidental overdose. I guess it is kind of like Lou Reed's Magic & Loss, about the death of a friend, or Sting's The Soul Cages about the death of his father or Neil Young's Sleeps With Angels, which was inspired by the death of Kurt Cobain. It's a hard album to listen to over and over, but it is a really good album at the same time. There are some beautiful sentiments, like "I Would Like To Call It Beauty" (inspired by a conversation Corinne had with her husband's brother), and "I'd Do It All Again." She had a hard time getting back into music, and then Questlove, a great guy by all accounts, gave her a live DVD of a Nina Simeone concert, and that helped her. I don't know how long I can really talk about this album for.

Patty Griffin's latest album, Downtown Church, is very gospel-inspried, and was in fact recorded in a church. Produced by the great Buddy Miller, it features guest appearances by Buddy, Julie Miller and Emmylou Harris. It's interesting: she could have made a much more "pop" album... especially since more people are finding out about her (she has been covered by Kelly Clarkson, Jessica Simpson, Susan Boyle, The Dixie Chicks, Ben Harper and Emmylou Harris, among others). This would seem to be the right time to just go for it, and try and make the breakthrough album. Clearly not her m.o., and good for her. It's a really, really good album. I love her writing and her singing.

Once again, I am going to try and get Larry to accept Jack White's greatness. Actually, this proably won't work. As I've written about before, Jack is producing Wanda Jackson's new album, and the first single is out now. The A-side is a cover of Amy Winehouse's "You Know I'm No Good," and the B-side is a cover of Johnny Kidd & The Pirates' "Shakin' All Over." The thing is, even five decades after she started making music, her voice still sounds really abrasive. I'm not sure the Amy cover works.

Then there is The Black Belles, an all-female rock band who I am sort of enjoying, the way you enjoy your first taste of a strong whiskey before you are old enough to drink. You're not actually sure you liked it at all, but you're going to try it again next weekend. Jack produced them, they have a cool sound, a cool look and I'm giving this one some time.

Well, I think it started snowing, so I don't know if I will make it in. If I don't, I'll be talking about all of this music next week. If I do, next week will be all about David Bowie!