Trisha O'Keefe: Star Burns Brightest

Today is my day of musical love affairs.

As you may know from previous entries, I enjoy, and I dare say, love, Trisha's music. That love affair, thankfully, can continue.

Her latest album, Star Burns Brightest, runs more tracks and more time than her two previous releases combined, and that's a great thing. Star runs 1:11.5, with 17 tracks.

Something I find with many independent artists is that their albums tend to feel over-produced. Not so with this one. Clearly, just the right amount of polish was applied to create a gem of a disc.

The pop-rock-ish-ness (say that 3 times fast), is nicely offset by some solid bluesy sounding riffs (Hear Me Out, Sorry Now?), wonderful use of piano and beautiful lyrics (I Want It All -- A favourite), and, hell, even a nice harder-rockin', straight forward 4-piece setup (Fire and Brimstone). Some of the quieter tunes (most specifically Passing Me By) do a good job of tearing at the ol' heart strings, while others, equally quiet, fill the heart with hope (I Could Get Used to This).

Hearing some of the tunes she did acoustic on Live! in their full instrumentation (Never Enough, BirdSong, Nobody's Love, Wasting My Time)is a treat and a half as I've been grown to know and adore these songs over the last year. And who doesn't like hearing new ways of presenting beloved songs?

Also, kudos to her production staff.

In the end: It's a great album that plays perfectly to O'Keefe's greatest strength (her voice), and leaves most of the modern day rock album bullshit behind. She's going places, I think, so get on board early. Listen, digest, repeat.

Technorati Tagged: Trisha O'Keefe | Small Artists | Rock | 2007