The 19-year-old pop rocker LaFee has already achieved what many musicians twice her age are still just dreaming of: at the age of sixteen, she released her debut album which just happened to immediately blast its way right into the position #1 on the official sales charts in both Germany and Austria. She’s definitely been working on a tight schedule, as her fourth full-length Ring frei saw the light of day hot on the heels of the new year on January 2nd. She has also somehow squeezed in two live DVDs and a documentation, and of course a load of singles and music videos. Talk about prolific. However, LaFee has been accused of being just another case of EMI’s thoroughly planned-out products, even though the musician herself contributes a lot to both the compositions and the lyrics. I think I’ll have to side with the critics on this one, as the pop-polish and mainstream appeal is quite apparent, especially in LaFee’s earlier output. The newest album, however, seems considerably more interesting with a notably more distinctive, heavier and darker style. In any case, it’s not like it’s illegal to enjoy well-crafted pop music, so more information follows.

Because samples of the whole new album are nowhere to be found for some reason, the best way to get an idea of LaFee’s current style would not be to check out LaFee’s official MySpace, as it hasn’t been updated since last year and only has older tracks there. On the other hand, the (fansite?) LaFee-Holland MySpace hosts two complete songs from Ring frei and some older songs as well. You can also catch the music video for Ring frei.

Ring frei is available on at least Amazon.de and Alphamusic for 13,99 €. The title song was also released as a single last November in two versions, a basic one and a fan edition with a lot of video material. Both versions come with a poster. Amazon.de has both versions, and so does Alphamusic.

Tracklisting behind the jump.

(more…)