This flawless collection of intimate and confessional songs is a complete stylistic departure from the Broadway songbook that has won actress
Alice Ripley critical acclaim on stage and in original cast recordings.
Ripley, along with producer
Joel Moss, has created an album brimming with world rhythms, haunting melodies, and captivating lyrics that reveals new treasures upon repeated listenings. Expertly melding influences that encompass folk, country, pop, worldbeat, blues, and jazz,
Ripley's songwriting displays a greater spiritual depth than a typical contemporary adult rock album. Though the tracks comprise a biographical song cycle based on
Ripley's tumultuous upbringing, there is never a hint of self-indulgence or shoegazing. The sparse organic arrangements are supported with colorful performances by her studio band that encourage
Ripley to soar with a romantic and fiery sophistication. Each track is a gem.
Ripley often displays a flare for the dramatic, especially when the second cut, "Shine On," bursts into an irresistibly hooky chorus, or in the blue-eyed soulful dialogue she injects into the verses of the title cut's swamp-funk groove. With this striking solo debut,
Alice Ripley proves she has the strength to shed her theatrical skin and embark a strictly musical career. ~ Tom Semioli