Gretchen Lieberum - Siren Songs (Nomadic)
3/5
By: Chris O'Toole
Los Angeles based sing-songwriter Gretchen Lieberum combines elements of jazz, trip-hip and soul to create seductive, understated sounds; elusive, enigmatic and thoughtful. At least that is what her press people would have you think! And while her third album, 'Siren Songs', is certainly a collection of those styles, it is a little staid to be seductive, a little too polished to be understated and a little cliché to be enigmatic.
And while there are touches of Portishead aplenty, Lieberum lacks the delicate hiss and faint, mysterious charm that bought that band to the attention of the wider public. Her album is filled with trumpets, strings and fragile bells, but the wide pallet is employed to little affect. Opener 'Avila' sounds a little like Eva Cassidy, had she not died and instead made it into the overloaded production of the twentieth-first century. The voice is low and soulful sure, but it sounds phoney; hitting the notes through training and not experience. There is little natural about the record; an idea coming to fruition through organisation and design, rather than an inscrutable desire.
'Beauty of Mine' brings to mind Lamb, but without the depth of production Andrew Barlow bought to their work, or even a 'Felt Mountain' era Goldfrapp, before Alison bought all the glam make-up and reinvented herself as a forty-something disco queen. What separates these groups is their individuality, those recognisable qualities that would capture the imagination and reveal the soul of an artist in a few brief moment; instantly identifiable quality amongst the popular schmaltz. Lieberum lacks that quality. She can sing, but that's not enough. 'Paper Tigers', a Chameleons cover, lacks the quality of the original and again disappears into obscurity.
'Do You Realise' raises the bar a little. Like a true siren Lieberum captures our attention and then walks away, leaving us to trail in her wake. But it's a diamond in the rough of the album as a whole, not to be repeated. If the yearning passion employed here could have been translated into a whole album, 'Siren Songs' would have been a masterpiece, but the flash of beauty retreats as quickly as it arrived. The song is also a cover of the Flaming Lips, which perhaps explains the improvement of quality. 'You Closer' returns to the cabaret style with bouncing drums and over-wrought double bass competing for space with Lieberum's voice with no eventual winner.
Later one 'Opus' sounds like a beautiful sunrise, but with a hangover, making it impossible to appreciate it. Whatever you do, it is impossible to shake that nagging pain at the back of your head; the lack of sincerity, variety dominate. The lyrics are also a tired, "Everything is beautiful, in retrospect". Really Gretchen? Really? 'Teardrop', a Massive Attack cover, is more of a parody than a genuine attempt to recapture the slow burning beauty of the original, and they are clearly a big influence on the albums style and direction; an expensive recording studio next to a campfire.
'Siren Songs' is a strong collection of second tier ballads, the covers stand out and the originals stumble behind. Listenable if not engaging, the album shows a competent artist treading a well worn path and nothing more.
Stream five tracks from 'Siren Songs' HERE.
Artists in this article: Gretchen Lieberum
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