If it was 20 years earlier, an album like this wouldn't havesurprised anybody by popping up on Paisley Park Records, as it's gotsome sort of fragile white soul that Prince seemed to frequently chase and salivate over,but the fact that it's been released on Temporary Residence, a labelknown more for instrumental guy-rock, is a bit of a surprise. Caroline Lufkin,born and raised in Japan, educated in Boston, now residing inCalifornia, has assembled a talented supporting cast of what seems likepeople from numerous places to make her recordings complete. Theinstrumentation is fantastic, with lush strings, faint guitar, piano,and unique beats. I'm in two worlds sometimes, however, as her talent as a singer and writer isundeniable, and the delivery is delicate and clearly sincere, it gets a littlesickeningly sweet sometimes, with "too cute" sugary vocals that border ongrating and lyrics that are, at times, disappointingly sophomoric.
"Where's My Love," the preceeding single released last year is theperfect introduction to her music, as it's pleasant, pretty, sweet asthe icing on a birthay cake, and is cute enough to fall in love with,and the critics spoke up last year about it. It's the album's opener,however, "Bicycle," a blurry childhood memory, that's quirky enough tomake her an original, as it's an unpredictable story about chasing aboy down the street and recalling only the bicycle and not his face.The more upbeat songs like "Everylittlething," with its very DepecheMode sounding keyboard bassline, will be a fave amongst the Morr Musicfans, while I can see a song like "All I Need" becoming one of those'our song' moments for a college student love affair after beingfeatured on the OC.
I love the almost Minnie Ripperton-esque performance on "I'll LeaveMy Heart Behind," (hey that's not a bad thing at all, I love popmusic). I could, however, personally deal with less repetition ofuninspirational lyrics on songs like "Drove Me to the Wall" ("you drove me to the wall / I put my car in stall") and the album closer, "Winter" ("if we hold onto each other life would be so sweet / if we hold onto each other life would be complete"),as I prefer my pop a little edgier. (And despite the lyrics on herwebsite, I think it sounds like she's singing the opposite by singing"wouldn't" instead of "would.") Regardless, I'm positive thatpopularity is inevitable for Caroline, as she's talented enough with asound that can win the hearts of many.
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