Honestly I Love You 'Cough'

Chronique

In typical oh-so-sensitive singer/songwriter style, Daniel Cirera begins his Honestly; I Love You *Cough* album with an acoustic guitar and a bit of a whine about his hypocritical girlfriend. Which means that when he quietly lets loose with a string of expletives one minute in, you never saw it coming, except for the number's dead give-away title "Motherf*cker- Fake-Vegetarian Ex-Girlfriend." Now that's shock and awe tactics, all the more impressive for Cirera's deliberately understated delivery. Unlike his heroes, the Sex Pistols, whose "Anarchy in the UK" he covers in similarly quiet fashion, the Swede is out to destroy in a far more subversive fashion. Pissed off after being dumped by their label, the Pistols shot off with "EMI"; when the Clash had differences with theirs, they unleashed "Complete Control." Cirera, in contrast, offers up "All of This" slagging off his label's demands for a hit, whilst simultaneously writing one, albeit one whose foul language will ban it from the airwaves.Tommy Boy had to settle for "Roadtrippin'" instead, a road song-cum-party song with druggy overtones and an exceedingly catchy chorus. "She Rules the School" is nearly as infectious, but in a darker musical vein, the presumably autobiographical "1992" equally so, but with a decided hip-hop edge. Elsewhere, the wagging "Dog" is a lyrically poignant number revolving around love lost and the despair of comfort found in a canine. There are also introspective ballads, Spanish-flavored westerns, and enough luminescent music to light up Times Square. No musicians are credited, so presumably Cirera provides all the music as well, an eclectic mix that borrows variously from the European club scene, the pop and rock worlds, R&B, and his Spanish blood (or half Spanish, the other half's Swedish).
Europe's already taken Cirera to heart, but will America warm to this emotionally sensitive but no holds barred, artist? One suspects so.

© Jo-Ann Greene /TiVo