Customer Reviews

Wicked Ways

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

 

 

This is an album of dark beauty and melancholy wisdom. I am amazed at how Lily has grown since her first album "Running From The Sky", which I purchased after watching her busk in Harvard Square. Her sound has developed into something uniquely her own. You can here the Tori, the bits and pieces of PJ and at times maybe even Joni and Stevie. But its wrapped into such a strange and lovely package that no one but Lily could create. Though I love all her work this is by far my favorite of her albums. I highly recommend it!

Lily's voice is a favorite of mine. It calls to mind the angelic vocals of Hope Sandoval(Mazzy Star), Heather Nova, Jenny Lewis(Rilo Kiley)and Nina Parsson (Cardigans) but with a little more grit at times. The production is lush and ranges from dreamlike to tenacious. "Wicked Ways" is an unforgetable album and a nice contrast to the sparse(but still lovely) debut "Running From the Sky".

Lily Holbrook's latest album, "Wicked Ways," evokes a maturity beyond her previous two recordings--which were beautiful and enchanting in their own right. An eclectic mix of sweet-sounding vocals and electric riffs, Wicked Ways shows a more multi-dimensional Holbrook growing her sound beyond the sweet, melodious chanteuse we were previously treated to in her premier and sophomore efforts. The lyrics on "Wicked Ways" are one of the many highlights of the album; her writing really shines through in the songs and, thanks to the thorough CD insert--complete with lyrics, notes, and a few choice photos of the beautiful Miss Holbrook--we're able to follow along. The caveat to this is her one cover track, "It's a Sin," a re-imaging of the classic Pet Shop Boys track.

All-in-all, this is a great album. It feels complete, varied and at all times beautiful. Lily's voice is powerful and soft at the same time; Wicked Ways is a great showcase of an ever-growing talent.

I happened upon Lily's music via Amazon recommends, and I was pleasantly suprised what I heard.

If you enjoy artists like Tori Amos and Imogen Heap, you should definitely enjoy Lily's music.

Make no mistake, this is a very beautiful album, but it is also somewhat odd. Of the ten songs, four are from a previous album. I like the songs that migrated. They fit well with the overall theme, but did they have to? The new songs are all gorgeously sung, especially Sweet Little Girl. But color me greedy because when I saw she had a new album, I would have liked them all to be original new songs.

There also seemed a couple of odd production errors on the CD and liner notes. It's a Sin and Better Left Unsaid are in the wrong order and the lyrics to It's a Sin aren't printed in the liner notes. Nothing to go crazy over but annoying nonetheless.

I hope Lily continues to produce more albums and more original songs as her voice is one that should not be forgotten.