I've loved the two singles leading up to this debut album. Both Hard To Be Happy and Last Years Ashes have featured on Listening To This Week and I've been bursting waiting for the release of Things I Might Have Said.
Witkin is Los Angeles's Veronica Witkin and whereas artists of a similar age want to come over all sassy and allow themselves to be over produced with a myriad of vocal treatments, this is nothing of the sort. This is essentially great Power Pop, but with ventures into other genres that add great variety.
Hard To Be Happy for instance has a real Psych Pop feel at times, particularly on the Guitar solo. A Way Back To Myself is wonderful Classic Rock, bordering on AOR and These Days comes across as very Hazel O'Connor. There is even space for an instrumental, Chromatic Aberrations, which allows Witkin to show her Guitar playing skill in a mesmerising way.
Drowning In The Gene Pool even goes a little bit UK Glam Rock, very Suzi Quatro. But is the Power Pop that rings out most, aided by dad Bruce Witkin on Bass and production duties. That Power Pop mixes Classic with the new noisier Indie breed of the genre.
One minute Witkin can vocally be Tamar Berk and the next Elena Rogers. The Power Pop changes too. I Hate My Brain is very 80s AOR-ish, 1973 is a great paean to the year before I still think I live in. Last Years Ashes is very close to the new Guitar led breed that is dominating both our peers' attention these days.
However songs such as You're So Cinematic and Don't Call It A Cult show off a different side of the artist, slower, more cinematic and poptastic. This is cracking debut album from a lady you will hear much more about in future years. Mature and melodic and not afraid to break out, the whole thing is wonderful.
You can listen to and buy the album here. It is available on Cassette or as a download and maybe crying out for a CD or Vinyl release.
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