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J. BIRD TAYLOR: So Bitter, So Sweet

This debut album from Joanna Taylor, a Wellington-based singer/songwriter and lead vocalist for covers band Crush was written, recorded and produced with her bandmate Vincent McParland at Taylor’s home studio. ‘So Bitter, So Sweet’ leans towards being a ‘concept record’, Taylor’s lyrics drawing heavily on fantasy themes. The music is influenced by heavy rock – with some out-of-place sound effects. A ringing phone and a cuckoo clock appear on Numb Sanity (whose guitar riff, incidentally, is very similar to the hook on Abba’s Ring Ring), while Waiting So Long has a circus theme that seems superfluous to the song. Bitter Sweet starts with the reading of a fairytale, and then becomes what can only be described as a lightweight version of a Meatloaf song. While doing things your own way can be successful, having complete musical freedom can be a bad thing if there is little quality control, as is the case here, with songs that are formulaic, heavy handed, and mostly too long.

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