A delicious confection, in the (metaphorical, musical) senses both of being a sweet delicacy and a very nicely put together mixture. More organic and, at times, even rugged-sounding than the fantastic The Magician's Private Library, it nonetheless shares a dreamy woodsiness with its predecessor, not to mention Miranda's oddly soulful vocals (odd because her voice is frequently on the thin side, balanced out maybe by its alluringly raspy edge).
Anyway, dreamy yes - the pinnacle on that front is mid-album drifter "Pelican Rapids", which evokes Angelo Badalamenti's Twin Peaks score - but it also has its exultant moments, like the brightly surging "Come On" (which incidentally, like a fair bit of the record's back end, recalls none so much as Sarah Blasko) and the way that opener "Mark My Words" builds to its layered climax. Then, of course, there's the fast-strummed, almost punky "All I Want Is to Be Your Girl", gleefully spinning out lines like "we could fuck in the sun and dance till dawn and all I want is to be your girl" which is the album's most surprising moment and its sharpest shot of sheer pop musical joy.
[* edit 11/7 - "Come On" also has a distinctly Washington-esque tinge]
Anyway, dreamy yes - the pinnacle on that front is mid-album drifter "Pelican Rapids", which evokes Angelo Badalamenti's Twin Peaks score - but it also has its exultant moments, like the brightly surging "Come On" (which incidentally, like a fair bit of the record's back end, recalls none so much as Sarah Blasko) and the way that opener "Mark My Words" builds to its layered climax. Then, of course, there's the fast-strummed, almost punky "All I Want Is to Be Your Girl", gleefully spinning out lines like "we could fuck in the sun and dance till dawn and all I want is to be your girl" which is the album's most surprising moment and its sharpest shot of sheer pop musical joy.
[* edit 11/7 - "Come On" also has a distinctly Washington-esque tinge]
