"Veiled full of raw emotion"

By Nicole Robertson

Leah Andreone has a facile voice that moves rapidly up and down like Kate Bush's with an uneven dynamic that expresses raw emotion. Yet she sings from the tonsils and not the diaphragm, so her delivery can be nasal and annoyingly whiny at times.

Her lyrics are intensely personal -- painful, yet compassionate as she relates emotional stories of her own loves and the unhappy relationships around her. She says her childhood reaction to strong emotions was to write in journals or perform singing and playing piano, using her music as a refuge. This album, she says, is the unveiling of those feelings she previously kept bottled up.

She opens with reassurances to an abused child that "It's Alright It's OK." Later, she takes on the persona of the child in "Problem Child," singing, "If I'm real bad will you punish me / the contact hurts but at least you're touching me." In "Happy Birthday," her anger is punctuated by a stinging guitar line reminiscent of John Lennon's "Cold Turkey." And in her growling "Who Are They To Say," Andreone achieves a '70s R&B feel.

If you can get past her relentless wailing, you may find this album grows on you quite nicely.