Heather Nova

Siren

Not only a siren: very human, very real

Review Score:

(10/10)
My first Heather Nova CD was Oyster. Though impressed by this album for its simple lyrical beauty, layered chords, and varied emotional tone, I was even more struck by the genuine force of this album.

Heather Nova's music is refreshingly honest. She seems to use her music as an outlet, which is what makes it real. She creates it for herself. And in Siren, she makes use of her stunningly strong voice to draw you into her. There are times when she sings cheerfully, wistfully, passionately, achingly, lovingly. While difficult to choose the best tracks (and everyone's opinion varies) I was most impressed with "Blood of Me", "What A Feeling", "Winterblue", "I'm Alive", "Paper Cup", and "Ruby Red". I found "London Rain" to be overrated and too repetitive.

The soul of the album is the last track, Not Only Human: "Life is something set to music/I can hear it when I'm sad/There's a chord in every muscle.../I know nothing but I'm guessing/When we die we're not alone"

I think if you generally like intelligent, emotional music (I. E. Tori Amos, Bjork, Tanya Donelly, Edith Frost) you will be able to dig Heather Nova.

More Reviews: