Customer Reviews

Curiouser

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Dam listening to her voice gives me the goose bumps! Then I found out she was trained as a opera singer. This girl is unique. Check out the free sample, you wont be disappointed.

Kate is an absolute delight to watch live. If you find yourself in the US and unable to obtain a copy of the Live at the Chapel video concert (check the Backstage section of www.katemillerheidke.com), you're truly missing out. Her previous albums have been enjoyable more for the memory of her fantastic performance (along with her fantastic band) and lovely personality after shows than for themselves. The songs were never quite as expressive, quite as exciting, as they were on stage. Kate puts on a very good show, and often adds little operatic trills into the performance but not into the recordings.

This album finally changes that. As before, every song is gorgeous and well performed, but this time there's no feeling that something has been lost between the stage and the studio. Some of the songs speak to Kate's folksy roots ("Our Song" and "Caught in the Crowd" especially feel 'older' than the rest of the album), and some speak to a combination of pop and new wave ("Can't Shake It", the first single from the album, and "Motorscooter" both remind me quite a lot of the B-52s!), and all are equally fantastic.

I really love this CD. What an pleasure to hear Pop music that is honest and passionate. Her songs can be playful or poignant. If like Joni Mitchell, Kate Bush, and/or Tori Amos... you will enjoy this CD by a fresh new talent!

I just listened to this CD at a listening station and immediately had to buy it. Kate is a revelation!!! This is smart, avant-garde pop that is incredibly catchy and listenable, but still unique. This is how pop is done. Smart, well-conceived, and sassy. This disc is leagues above all the crap on the radio today! A perfectly crafted album. I hope Kate reaches alot of people with this intelligent and spunky release! A must own!

This album does sound more commercial than her last one (and certainly more than her two folk-based EPs), but there's still plenty of her signature wit, her fast-paced phrasing and that most impressive of instruments: her versatile voice.

Rarely do you run across a singer whose voice sounds as warm and approachable as Kate's does, who can also run the scales up to the far right side of the piano and beyond. And those who can pull off that stunt often annoy more than impress. But Kate has a great sense of whimsy and irony in her songwriting and knows when to accentuate her songs with a smart touch of drama, and somehow it all works in a very catchy, pop setting.

She says she's a fan of Tori Amos, but I hear more Kate Bush in her light touch on the piano, her sense of the absurd and her humor (not to mention a penchant for putting weird things in her hair). Ain't nothing wrong with that! This is a very upbeat, feel-good album and even the pensive tracks have a tendency to uplift rather than wallow. It's smart, fun pop that may not change the world, but hopefully will give KM-H a good liftoff...I can't wait to hear what she does next.

Kate has loads of talent and it is a great pleasure to hear her thoughtful, beautiful lyrics and voice - which she ably can use with operatic variety. I hope she gets the American exposure she deserves. With her kind of talent I could envision her with success over here like a Jewell or Katy Perry. William, Santa Barbara, California

Had never heard of Kate Miller-Heidke before hearing a ten second sound bite of the song The Last Day on Earth on a TV commercial promoting some upcoming funeral scene or something in Neighbours (an Australian soapie show). So all I had was the name of the song and Kate's name, ridiculously there are no track listings for her albums here on Amazon so I'll provide them at the end of this review. This is not one of those get the album to get just one song buys though. Although some songs are better than others, there aren't really any fillers on here. As well as a cool mini poster of Kate living in 13 rooms inside a dolls house up to various activities, including being chased by an echidna in the attic and kneeling in a secret bomb shelter under the kitchen surrounded by just Vegemite, you also get all the songs' lyrics.

Deep, well written and relevant to current events in society some of these lyrics are too. The most would be the regret about behaviour in high school song called Caught in the Crowd. Kate plays a character who connected with a kid who others called weird, then one day bullies beat him up and torment in front of everyone with the fact he has no friends and she wanting to be cool turned her back on him. A very relevant song in today's bullying get out of control and more and more children committing suicide as a result times.

Music wise these songs aren't sung like you're typical rock or pop songs. Kate Miller-Heidke uses her voice to reach high notes the other artists would rely on instruments to convey the same effects. There's still instruments in the songs but Kate's voice is by far the leading one. Although some songs are pretty deep, most are pretty fun.

The tracks on Curiouser are -

1. The Only Thing I Know

2. God's Gift to Women

3. Caught in the Crowd

4. Can't Shake It

5. The Last Day on Earth

6. I Like You Better When You're Not Around

7. Motorscooter

8. The End of School

9. Politics in Space

10. Supergirl

11. Our Song

12. No Truck

I heard one of Kate's songs on the radio back home and immediately went about ordering the entire CD once I was back at uni only because I kept finding myself listening to Shake It over and over again on youtube. To tell the truth, I was a little nervous that I would end up listening to it five times and then chucking the CD into a pile of other forgottens. But to my surprise, this stayed in my car for five months straight, being my own little pleasure every time I took trips to work or the grocery. It's pop, sure, but has that flair of opera that Kate was trained to sing. And the lyrics are spot-in. Full of depth and speaking of things much more playful or dark than the usual pop songs that you'll end up hearing. After a few months of obsessing over her music, my friends ended up listening to her while on a midnight run for food, and we were literally dancing in the car at a red light, listening to Shake It on full blast with the windows open. One of the most enjoyable nights of my life. It was also enjoyable when I realised that they had all enjoyed her songs so much that they each asked about the CD later on (and every single one of them then got the Cd!). She's so catchy and fun and real--it's hard not to like her music. I highly, highly recommend checking her out!

The music that Kate Miller-Heidke produces is an awesome achievement in the modern pop music sector. Cannot be compared with much out there now or in recent memory. The songs are fresh yet have familiar beats that right away catch your attention and keep it throughout the whole album. I was not expecting the catchiness of the tunes paired with the operatic vocals and rhythmic beats to work so well but...wow. If you are open to thought provoking lyrics and beautiful musical arrangements then you will not find a finer album. Hasn't left my cd player for 3 weeks now and don't think it will!

Until I heard this album, I just didn't think that a good song could be written about bullying. I had heard some pathetic, cringe-inducing efforts from some people. Neil Young sings that just singing a song won't change the world. Well, maybe it can.